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1^ UBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



\ 



Puerto Rico 

AND ITS RESOURCES 



BY 
FREDERICK A. OBER 

Author of Crusoe's Island : A Bird-hunter's Story, 

Camps in the Caribbees, Travels in Mexico, 

In the Wake of Columbus, A Life of Josephine, Etc, 

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1899 






Copyright, 1898, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 







,0(2. 



^«< CF £. 









K^ 



PKEFACE. 



While the \^Titer has always held a preface to 
be ill its very nature a work of supererogation, yet, 
having told all he knows abont Puerto Eico, in this 
book of facts, he is called upon to write an ex 
post fado introductory. Having exhausted his own 
stock of information, then, and having presented 
the gist of what his predecessors in the same field 
may have garnered, it only remains, perhaps, to tell 
why he did it, and to mention what had been done 
before him. 

His acquaintance with the island dates from 
1880, when he visited every port of importance, and 
his interest was deepened when, as West-Indian 
Commissioner for the Columbian Exposition, he re- 
visited its shores. It was not, however, until the 
present year that opportunity offered for presenting 
the result of his observations at different times, 
when the recent war with Spain directed public at- 
tention to the subject. 



vi PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Although Puerto Eico was discovered in 1493, 
by Columbus, on his second voyage, and settled be- 
fore the expiration of the sixteenth century's sec- 
ond decade, yet it has not filled an important place 
in the literature of American voyages and travels. 
It received casual mention from the early historiog- 
raphers, as Oviedo, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter 
Martyr, in the sixteenth century; from Rochforte 
in the seventeenth; from Pere Labat, Raynal, Jef- 
freys, and Bryan Edwards, in the eighteenth; and 
also incidentally, while writing of the voyages of 
Columbus, the conquistador es, and the aborigines, 
from N"avarette, Washington Irving, O'^eil, Re- 
clus, Trumbull, and a few others, in the nineteenth. 

The first really valuable work devoted exclu- 
sively to the island was published in 1788 — the 
Historia Geografica, Civil y Politica, by Pray Ihigo 
Abbad y Lasiera — and which has served as the 
foundation for others since. In 1810, Ledru's 
Voyage aux Isles d'Tenerifie . . . et Puerto Pico, 
the portion treating of the latter translated into 
Spanish in 1863. In 1834 appeared Colonel Flin- 
ter's valuable Account of the Present State of the 
Island; in 1854, the Biblioteca Historica, by a na- 
tive of and published in the island; in 1873, La 
Situacion de Puerto Rico, Madrid; in 1878, La 
Isla de Puerto Rico: Estudio Historico, Geografico 



PREFACE. vii 

y Estadistico, by Manuel Ubeda y Delgada, issued 
from tlie insular press; in 1879, Elementos de 
Geografia de la Isla, a text-book; in 1889, a learned 
treatise on tbe aborigines, Los Indios Borinquenos, 
by Dr. A. Stalil, Puerto Rico; and in 1891, La Isla 
de Puerto Rico, by J. Gr. Gomez, Madrid. 

Otber works of which the author has availed 
himself in the preparation of this volume are: 
Espana, sus Monumentos y Artes, su Naturaleza e 
Historia: Madrid, 1887; Gran Diccionario Geo- 
grafico e Historico de Espana y sus Provincias, 
Barcelona, 1890; Guia Geografico Militar de Es- 
pana y Provincias Ultramarinas, 1897; Anuario 
del Comercio, de la Industria (etc.) de Espana, 
Cuba, Puerto Rico y Filipinos; the Statesman's 
Year-Book; the Presupuestos General de Gastos e 
Ingresos de la Isla de Puerto Rico para 1897— '98; 
the Trade of Puerto Rico, by F. H. Hitchcock: 
Washington, 1898; the Hand Book of the Ameri- 
can Republics, for 1893, and its Bulletin for 
August, 1898; and, finally, that invaluable com- 
pilation, Military ISTotes of Puerto Rico, issued by 
the War Department, Adjutant General's Office, 
in July of the present year, for the guidance of our 
military commanders. 

Space forbids more than mention of titles, mere- 
ly, of books to which the writer has been indebted 



viii PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

for information; bnt lie would herewitli express his 
sense of obligation to their authors. Moreover, he 
would tender his grateful acknowledgments to the 
Library of Congress, and to the heads of the various 
Governmental departments, particularly the Bu- 
reau of Education, the Department of Agriculture, 
the War and Navy Departments, the Bureau of 
American Republics, and the Department of State. 
Their assistance has been of great service, and their 
courtesy unfailing. 

Further, the author feels constrained to add 
that, in adopting the Spanish orthography, Puerto 
Rico, instead of the bastard English, " Porto," he 
has the sanction of highest authority, as, for in- 
stance, the United States Board of Geographic 
!N'ames. The word " Porto " does not occur in any 
Spanish dictionary, and has not yet became legiti- 
mized in English. 

Washington, D. C, December, 1898. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. — Commercial and strategic value 
II. — Coastal features, rivers, harbours 
III. — Climate, seasons, hurricanes, etc. 
IV. — Some tropical products 
^ V. — Sugar, tobacco, coffee, and cacao 

VI. — Fruits, spices, cereals, food plants 
u/*^VII. — Dyes, drugs, woods, and minerals 
VIII. — Natural history, game, insect pests 
IX. — San Juan, the capital . 
X. — Cities and towns of the coast 
XI. — Inland towns — routes of travel 
XII. — Government and people 
XIII. — Foods, drinks, diversions, etg 
/^IV. — The Indians of Puerto Rico 
XV. — A chapter of history . 
XVI. — An American possession 

Appendix .... 
? Index 



/^ 



PAGE 
1 

11 

24 

44 

55 

69 

86 

104 

116 

126 

139 

158 

177 

198 

208 

223 

243 

277 



LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 



FACING 
PAGK 

A street in San Juan .... Frontispiece 

Inner harbour, San Juan 8 ■'' 

San Juan Harbour, View from Casa Blanca, Ponce de 

Leon's house 21 

A palm-tree bohio 51 

In the cane-field 56 

Planter's house, ceiba tree, and royal palms . . .64 

A pineapple field 74 

The bread-fruit . . . . . . . .94 

Edible crabs on sale . . . . . . . .106 

Ancient and modern sentry boxes, San Juan , . . 117 

Church of Santo Domingo, San Juan .... 123 

A tienda, or small shop 128 -- 

Native hut, country district 153 " 

A shelter of palm leaves 167 

Game cocks on the sidewalk, San Juan .... 180 

Cacao tree and fruit 195 

The sea grape 205 

A calabash tree . . . . . . . . 218 

Gathering cocoanuts 234 

Map of Puerto Rico . •. 282 

xi 



PUERTO RICO. 



I. 

COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC VALUE. 

A NOTEWORTHY event in the history of the 
United States as a nation is the almost simultane- 
ous acquisition, or practical control, of such trop- 
ical islands as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Hawaiian 
group. It is notable, not alone as indicating a de- 
parture from ancestral traditions, but as showing 
that the people of the United States are alive to 
the needs of the future; for, without an ex- 
ception, these islands produce naturally all the 
articles so essential in our domestic economy, raised 
in tropical countries, in which our own continental 
territory is deficient. 

Although we have a restricted area capable of 
producing sugar-cane, yet we expend abroad for 
sugar about one hundred million dollars annually; 
we have no soil and climate favourable for coffee 
within the confines of the United States, yet we 

1 



2 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

send to foreign parts another hundred million; and, 
without going into detail, it may be stated that we 
expend abroad annually at least two hundred and 
fifty million dollars for purely tropical products 
which we can not raise ourselves. Though we 
could, " at a pinch/' find substitutes for coffee and 
spices in home products, and obtain a limited 
amount of sugar from beets and sorghum, yet the 
annual outflow of a quarter billion dollars for such 
luxuries has gone on just the same. 

In a word, the acquisition of these islands, it 
is believed, will enable us eventually to supply 
all our wants, as to tropical products which we 
have hitherto lacked. And, what is more, while 
they produce the things we lack and need, the 
people of those islands manufacture next to noth- 
ing, and will look to us for all their machinery, 
flour, cotton and woollen goods — in fact, for every- 
thing necessary to civilized communities. While 
England is talking about an " open door " in the 
Orient for her commerce and the expansion of 
trade, we have, though almost fortuitously, opened 
a door (through the valour of our soldiers and sea- 
men) which will ultimately lead to the commer- 
cial conquest of those forty million people south 
of us, in the West Indies and South America, and 
the consequent enrichment of millions of our own. 



COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC VALUE. 3 

Of these newly acquired tropical possessions of 
ours, Puerto Rico is the southernmost and also the 
easternmost. In fact, it lies farther to the east 
than any portion of Maine, even, and in about the 
longitude of St. John, N'ew Brunswick ; and while 
the Hawaiian group lies between latitude 19° and 
22° north, and Cuba just south of the Tropic of 
Cancer, Puerto Rico lies between 17° and 18° 
north, and its northern coast line is one hundred 
miles to the south of Cuba's southern shores. 
Within a little more than a thousand miles of the 
equator, its southern coast facing the Caribbean 
Sea, its northern toward the Atlantic, it forms the 
keystone of that arch of islands, the Antillean 
Archipelago, extending from near the mouth of the 
Orinoco on the north coast of South America, north- 
ward and then westward toward the eastern coast 
of Honduras, inclosing that vast body of water 
known as the " Mediterranean of America." 

It is about a thousand miles distant from Pla- 
vana and Key West, twelve hundred from the Isth- 
mus of Panama, fourteen hundred from Mca- 
ragua, fifteen hundred from 'New York, and three 
thousand from Cadiz in Spain. These figures, in 
conjunction with the preceding paragraph, tell an- 
other story to the initiated; and that is, its great 
value, not only as a commercial, but as a strategic 



4 PUERTO mCO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

centre, or base, in case of future military and naval 
operations in the Caribbean Sea. 

" The trouble with us/' a certain senator once 
said, is that " we are afraid of being great ! " It 
seems at last that we have bravely overcome that 
dread of territorial expansion, and are no longer 
afraid of trying, at least, an experiment along that 
line. The acquisition of Puerto Rico will be in 
the nature of an experiment on the face of it, but 
in reality we have been preparing for just such a 
contingency for many years past. It has long been 
foreseen by our naval strategists, that if we ever 
possessed a navy we must also own or control naval 
bases, or coaling stations, in various parts of the 
world. By glancing at a map of the world we 
shall see that Great Britain has girdled the globe 
with such stations, for the supply and refreshment 
of her fleets. It was sufiiciently emphasized in the 
East, when our fleet was ordered out of Hong 
Kong; in the West, when the coal-heaps of St. 
Thomas and Martinique were declared neutral 
property. We were for a time wanderers on the 
face of the seas, with no friendly harbour open to 
us, no port to welcome us with its shelter. 

Fortunately, brave Dewey captured a coaling 
station at Cavite; in the West Indies we were 
rendered temporarily independent by colliers ac- 



COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC VALUE. 6 

companjing tlie fleet, and finally by the taking of 
Guantanamo. But if Dewey had not taken Ma- 
nila, and if Cervera's fleet had been as strong as 
was at first reported and we believed, the coaling 
problem would have been an important factor in 
determining the success or failure of our plans. 

'No arguments are needed now to convince our 
people of the actual necessity for bases of supply 
at a distance from our continental coast line; but 
it may surprise many to learn that such acquisi- 
tions have been urged for many years, at least 
thirty past, in the halls of Congress. Away back 
during Lincoln's administration Secretary Seward 
had in mind the purchase of the Danish islands of 
St. Thomas, St. John, and Santa Cruz, and later 
negotiated a treaty by which, for seven and a half 
million dollars, we were to acquire them. But for 
the unexpected opposition of certain senators, when 
the treaty was up for ratification, we should have 
bought them; and, notwithstanding the enor- 
mous sum we promised to pay for them, though 
St.. John is a fine island, fertile and picturesque, 
and Santa Cruz covered with rich sugar planta- 
tions, yet the sole object in view was the single har- 
bour of St. Thomas! 

Even though that harbour has often been visited 

by hurricanes, and though the island itself is com- 
2 



6 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

parativelj unproductive, yet our naval experts 
looked upon its acquisition as a wise measure of 
diplomacy; but, until quite recently, that harbour, 
with its dependent island and population, was the 
only one in the West Indies available, for there 
was none other for sale. The rapid developments 
of the war with Spain, however, and the extension 
of the scheme of conquest to include the island of 
Puerto Rico, suddenly made us aware of a pos- 
sible possession, of which we could not have availed 
ourselves by peaceful means; for Spain would not 
have sold it at any price. 

Here, then, is an island, ours merely at the cost 
of conquest, which combines all the advantages pos- 
sessed by St. Thomas in a marked degree, for it 
has at least six good harbours and a vast extent 
of fertile territory, as against the one harbour of 
the Danish isle and its cluster of barren rocks. 
Strategically, then, as possessing a commanding 
situation in the Caribbean, with numerous excel- 
lent harbours for the asesmbling and refitting of 
our fleets, with unlimited supply of naval stores, 
water, fruits, and vegetables, Puerto Rico is of sur- 
passing importance. 

Let us glance at those natural features of the 
island which make it not only a valuable property 



COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC VALUE. 7 

for us as a national entity, but a potentially lucra- 
tive investment individually. In the first place, 
Puerto Rico is five degrees south of the northern 
tropic, and so is capable of yielding any variety 
of plant, fruit, or vegetable that the most fa- 
voured region of equatorial America can produce. 
In the second place, its physical configuration is 
such that it is generally exempt from the dis- 
eases and drawbacks to which most tropic and sub- 
tropic countries are subject. In other words, it is a 
habitable country for the Anglo-Saxon, which can 
not always be said of regions under or near the equa- 
tor. This is owing to the fact that the island is 
hilly, mountainous, and with few swampy sections. 
The central backbone of the island is a moun- 
tain chain, or cordillera, which reaches its greatest 
altitude, of some three thousand seven hundred 
feet, in the peak of the Luquillo Sierra, called El 
Yunque, a picturesque mountain visible many 
miles at sea. The chain rises near the Cabeza de 
San Juan, at the extreme northeastern point of 
the island, and extends throughout the interior, 
toward the southwest, which is a heaved-up area 
of mountains, hills, spurs, valleys, from which run 
down the many streams and rivers of the island, 
estimated at thirteen hundred in number, and some 
of them sixty miles in length. 



8 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The length of the island is variously given as 
from ninety-five to one hundred and five miles, 
and its breadth from thirty to forty; but probably 
a safe estimate would make it about one hundred 
miles in length and thirty-five in average breadth, 
with a total area of about three thousand six hun- 
dred square miles. But though the greater por- 
tion is hilly, even mountainous, yet the elevations 
are generally of such a character, with gently slop- 
ing sides and rounded summits, that they are sus- 
ceptible of cultivation to their very tops. No more 
beautiful picture can be imagined than the aspect 
of this island as it is approached from the sea, with 
the ranges of hills rolling like billows from coast to 
mountain-tops, which latter are mostly forest-clad; 
and thus every tint of vegetation is seen, from the 
lightest to the deepest shade of green. 

To revert to the features which make the island 
valuable as a naval station: Although most of the 
streams descending from the mountains flow north- 
wardly, yet very few have open or navigable har- 
bours at their mouths, and most of the good sea- 
ports are on the southern shore. The north coast 
boasts one important harbour, however, to which 
events of the war have called attention, in the 
famous port of San Juan, the capital and only forti- 
fied city on the island. It is an inlet of the northern 



COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC VALUE. 9 

coast, about one third the distance, or thirty-five 
miles, from Cape San Juan, in the east, to Cape 
Pena Aguda, in the extreme west. The width of 
the navigable channel at its mouth is about four 
hundred yards, and when the water is smooth, ves- 
sels carrying five fathoms can cross the bar in 
safety and run in as far as the wharves near the 
arsenal. But vessels with the average draft of 
our battle-ships, or say twenty-four feet, have to 
exercise great caution in entering, and at all times 
have to pass within biscuit-throw of the powerful 
batteries and fortifications on the eastern side. 

"When a storm is raging or a norther blowing, 
the harbour mouth, or hoca, is a sheet of tossing, 
seething billows, through which the most experi- 
enced pilot can only navigate at extreme risk of 
losing his vessel. Inside, though exposed to the 
northers, is a deep and beautiful harbour, which 
can doubtless be improved by dredging and the 
building of breakwaters, so as to be safe even in 
the hurricane season. 

Arecibo, thirty-five miles west of San Juan, is a 
place of importance, but has no good harbour ; oijly 
an open roadstead, in which vessels lie while their 
cargoes are being transferred by lighters to the 
shore. Rounding the northwest cape, a magnificent 
bay is opened, that of Aguadilla, with water deep 



10 PUERTO EICO AND ITS EESOURCES. 

enough for a battle-ship, and sheltered from the 
trade-winds, but with no good wharves. The same 
may be said of Mayagiiez, to the south, on the west 
coast. On the south coast, going east, the first fine 
harbour is Guanica, where General Miles landed 
his forces, with water enough for all large vessels; 
then the harbour of Ponce, with one channel carry- 
ing ^ye fathoms; still farther east the small ports 
of Salinas and Arroyo; and on the eastern end of 
the island the ports of Humacao, E'aguabo, and 
Fa jar do, exposed to the " trades," and with no 
great depth of water. Thus it may be seen that 
there are harbours enough and to spare, to suit all 
seasons and all kinds of weather. 



II. 

COASTAL FEATUEES, RIYEES, HAEBOUES. 

Puerto Rico, except for tlie prolongation of 
its northeastern end, is almost a parallelogram in 
coastal outline ; east to west, north to south, its coast 
lines run, as though projected by compass. Sea- 
faring men hail its landfall with delight, and greet 
the apparition of gigantic Yunque, visible fifty 
miles at sea, with joy, having in mind the pleas- 
ures here of " a turn ashore." 

"Writing of the extreme regularity of its out- 
line, the eminent geographer, M. Elisee Reclus, 
says : " Even the islands and islets scattered along 
the east side seem to form a half-raised extension 
of the geometrical insular mass. . . . Mona Island, 
also, off the west coast, in the passage separat- 
ing Puerto Pico from Santo Domingo, stands on 
the same submarine bank as the large island of 
which it is a political dependency. Thus the part- 
ing line between the Atlantic and the Caribbean 

Sea is continued west and east of Puerto Rico m 

11 



12 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

such a way as to connect this island on the one side 
with Santo Domingo and on the other with the 
Virgin Islands. But northward and southward 
the submarine slopes fall regularly to depths of 
from one thousand to two thousand fathoms, and 
on the side of the ocean to even j&ve miles." 

While Puerto Rico is surpassed by other islands 
of the Antilles in the altitude of its mountains, 
still there are several besides the Yunque over 
three thousand feet in height, as Guilarte in Ad- 
juntas, La Somanta in Aybonito, and Las Tetas de 
Cerro Gordo in San German, all of which have 
coffee plantations on their slopes, and are easily as- 
cended on foot or on horseback. There will, doubt- 
less, be some delightful experiences in mountain 
climbing after we have secured and pacified Cuba 
and Puerto Rico. The Blue Mountains of Jamaica 
are glorious and famous, but Luquillo and Tar- 
quino, it is believed, will eclipse them all in the 
beauties they will reveal. Caves abounding in 
stalactites, springs of hot and chalybeate water, 
and streams containing rare fish, are said to be 
hidden within the mountain valleys of both islands. 

Though few of the rivers are navigable for any 
distance above their mouths, yet not many countries 
of Puerto Rico's extent are watered by so many 
streams. 



COASTAL FEATURES, RIVERS, HARBOURS. 13 

Seventeen rivers, taking their rise in the 
mountains, cross the valleys of the north coast and 
empty into the sea. Some of these are navigable 
two or three leagues from their mouths for schoon- 
ers and small coasting vessels. Those of Manati, 
Loisa, Trabajo, and Arecibo are very deep and 
broad, and it is difficult to imagine how such large 
bodies of w^ater can be collected in so short a course. 
Owing to the heavy surf which continually breaks 
on the north coast, these rivers have bars across 
their embouchures which do not allow large ves- 
sels to enter. The rivers of Bayamo and Eio Pie- 
dras flow into the harbour of the capital, and are 
also na\dgable for boats. At high water small 
brigs may enter the river of Arecibo with perfect 
safety and discharge their cargoes, notwithstanding 
the bar which crosses its mouth. 

The rivers of the north coast have a decided 
advantage over those of the south coast, where the 
climate is drier and the rains less frequent. Never- 
theless, the south, west, and east coasts are well 
supplied with water; and, although in some sea- 
sons it does not rain for ten and sometimes twelve 
months on the south coast, the rivers are never en- 
tirely dried up. 

From the Cabeza de San Juan, which is the 
northeast extremity of the island, to the cape of 
Mala Pascua, which lies to the southeast, nine 
rivers fall into the sea. 

From Cape Mala Pascua to Point Aguila, 
which forms the southwest angle of the island, six- 



14 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

teen rivers discharge their waters on the south 
coast. 

On the west coast three rivers, five rivulets, 
and several fresh-water lakes communicate with the 
sea. In the small extent of three hundred and 
thirty leagues of area there are forty-six rivers, be- 
sides a countless number of rivulets and branches 
of navigable water. 

The rivers of the north coast are stocked with 
delicious fish, some of them large enough to weigh 
two quintals. 

From the river of Arecibo to that of Manati, 
a distance of '^ve leagues, a fresh-water lagoon, per- 
fectly navigable for small vessels through the 
whole of its extent, runs parallel to the sea at about 
a mile from the shore. 

In the fertile valley of Anasco, on the west- 
ern coast, there is a canal formed by nature, deep 
and navigable. None of the rivers are of real mili- 
tary importance; for, though considering the short- 
ness of their course, they attain quite a volume, still 
it is not sufiicient for good-sized vessels. 

The rivers emptying on the north coast are 
Loisa, Aguas Prietas, Arecibo, Bayamon, Camuy, 
Cedros, Grande, Guajataca de la Tuna, Lesayas, 
Luquillo, Manati, Rio Piedras, Sabana, San Mar- 
tin, Sibuco, Toa, and Yega. 

Those emptying on the east coast are Can- 
delero, Dagua, Pajardo, Guayanes, Majogua, and 
Maonabo. 

On the south coast: Aguamanil, Caballon^ 



COASTAL FEATURES, RIVERS, HARBOURS. 15 

Cana, Coamo, Descalabrado, Guanica, Guayama, 
Giiayanilla, Jacagiia, Manglar, Penuela, Ponce, 
and Yigia. 

On tlie west coast: Agnada, Boqneron, Ca- 
jas, Cnlebrina, Chico, Guana jibo, Mayagiiez, and 
Kincon. 

The limits of the Loisa River are: On the 
east, the sierra of Lnqnillo (situated near the north- 
east corner of the island); on the south, the sierra 
of Cayej, and on the west, ramifications of the 
latter. It rises in the northern slopes of the sierra 
of Cajej, and, running in a northwest direction 
for the first half of its course and turning to north- 
east in the second half, it arrives at Loisa, a port 
on the northern coast, where it discharges its waters 
into the Atlantic. During the first part of its 
course it is known by the name of Cayagua. 

The Sabana River has, to the east and south, 
the western and southern limits of the preceding 
river, and on the west the Sierra Grande, or De 
Barros, which is situated in the centre of the gen- 
eral divide or watershed. It rises in the sierra of 
Cayey, and, with the name of Pinones River, it 
flows northwest, passing through Aibonito, Toa 
Alta, Toa Baja, and Dorado, where it discharges 
into the Atlantic to the west of the preceding 
river. 

The Manati River is bounded on the east and 
south by the Sierra Grande and on the west by the 
Siales ridge. It rises in the Sierra Grande, and, 
parallel with the preceding river, it flows through 



16 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Siales and Manati, to the north, of which latter 
town it empties into the Atlantic. 

The Arecibo River is bounded on the east by 
the Siales Mountain ridge, on the south by the 
western extremity of the Sierra Grande, and on 
the west by the Lares ridge. It rises in the general 
divide, near Ad juntas, and flows north through 
the town of Arecibo to the Atlantic, shortly before 
emptying into which it receives the Tanama River 
from the left, which proceeds from the Lares 
Mountains. 

The Anasco River is formed by the Lares 
Mountain ridge that rises in the eastern extremity 
of the mountains called Tetas de Cerro Gordo, flow- 
ing first northwest, and then west, through the 
town of its name and thence to the sea. 

The Guanajivo River has to its north the 
ramification of the Lares ridge, to the east the 
Tetas de Cerro Gordo Mountains, and on the south 
Torre Hill. In the interior of its basin is the 
mountain called Cerro Montuoso, which separates 
its waters from those of its affluent from the right, 
the Rosario River. It rises in the general divide, 
flowing from east to west to JSTuestra Seiiora de 
Montserrat, where it receives the affluent men- 
tioned, the two together then emptying south of 
Port Mayagiiez. 

The Coamo River is bounded on the west and 
north by the Sierra Grande, and on the east by the 
Coamo ridge. It rises in the former of these 
sierras, and flowing from north to south it empties 



COASTAL FEATURES, RIVERS, HARBOURS. 17 

east of Coamo Point, after having watered the town 
of its name. 

The Salinas River is bounded on the west by 
the Coamo ridge, on the north by the general 
divide, and on the east by the Cayey ridge. It 
rises in the southern slopes of the Sierra Grande, 
and flowing from north to south through Salinas 
de Coamo, empties into the sea. 

The northern coast extends in an almost 
straight line from east to west, and is high and 
rugged. The only harbours it has are: San Juan 
de Puerto Rico, partly surrounded by mangrove 
swamps and protected by the Cabras and the Cabri- 
tas Islands and some very dangerous banks; the 
anchoring ground of Arecibo, somewhat unpro- 
tected; and the coves of Cangrejos and Condado. 
During the months of November, December, and 
January, when the wind blows with violence from 
the east and northeast, the anchorage is dangerous 
in all the bays and harbours of this coast, except in 
the port of San Juan. Vessels are often obliged 
to put to sea on the menacing aspect of the heavens 
at this season, to avoid being driven on shore by the 
heavy squalls and the rolling waves of a boister- 
ous sea, which propel them to destruction. During 
the remaining months the ports on this coast are 
safe and commodious, unless when visited by a hur- 
ricane, against whose fury no port can offer a 
shelter, nor any vessel be secure. The excellent 
port of San Juan is perfectly sheltered from the 
effects of the north wind. The hill, upon which 



18 PUEETO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the town of that name and the fortifications which 
defend it are built, protects the vessels anchored in 
the harbour. The entrance of this port is narrow, 
and requires a pilot; for the canal which leads to 
the anchorage, although deep enough for vessels 
of any dimensions, is very narrow, which exposes 
them to run aground. This port is several miles 
in extent, and has the advantage of having deep 
canals to the east, among a wood of mangrove trees, 
where vessels are perfectly secure during the hur- 
ricane months. Vessels of two hundred and fifty 
tons can at present unload and take in their cargoes 
at the wharf. Harbour improvements have been 
recently made here. 

On the northwest and west are the coves 
of Aguadilla, and the small coves of Rincon, 
Anasco, and Mayagliez, the latter being protected 
and of sufficient depth to anchor vessels of 
moderate draft; the harbour of Real de Cabo 
Rojo, nearly round, and entered by a narrow chan- 
nel; and the cove of Boqueron. The spacious bay 
of Aguadilla is formed by Cape Borrigua and Cape 
San Francisco. When the north-northwest and 
southwest winds prevail it is not a safe anchorage 
for ships. A heavy surf rolling on the shore obliges 
vessels to seek safety by putting to sea on the ap- 
pearance of a north wind. Mayagliez Bay is also an 
open roadstead formed by two projecting capes. It 
has good anchorage for vessels of a large size, 
and is well sheltered from the north winds. The 
port of Cabo Rojo has also good anchorage. Its 



COASTAL FEATURES, EIYERS, HARBOURS. 19 

shape is nearly circular, and it extends from east 
to west tliree to four miles. At the entrance it 
has three fathoms of Avater, and sixteen feet in 
the middle of the harbour. The entrance is a nar- 
row canal. 

The south coast abounds in bays and harbours, 
but is covered with mangroves and reefs, the 
only harbours where vessels of regular draft 
can enter being Guanica and Ponce. The former 
of these is the westernmost harbour on the southern 
coast, being at the same time the best, though the 
least visited, owing to the swamps and low tracts 
difficult to cross leading from it to the interior. 
The nearest towns — San German, Sabana Grande, 
and Yauco — carry on a small trade through this 
port. 

In the port of Guanica, vessels drawing 
twenty-one feet of water may enter with perfect 
safety. Its entrance is about one hundred yards 
wide, and it forms a spacious basin, completely 
landlocked. The vessels may anchor close to the 
shore. It has, in the whole extent, from six 
fathoms and a half to three fathoms, the latter 
depth being found in the exterior of the port. 
The entrance is commanded by two small hills on 
either side, which if mounted with a few pieces 
of artillery would defy a squadron to force it. This 
port would be of immense advantage in time of 
war. The national vessels and coasters would thus 
have a secure retreat from an enemy's cruiser on 
the south coast. Coamo Cove, Aguirre, and 



20 PUERTO RICO AND ITS EESOURCES. 

Guayama are also harbours, and the port of Jovos, 
near Guayama, is a haven of considerable im- 
portance. However, it is difficult to enter this 
port from June to ^^iTovember, as the sea breaks 
with violence at the entrance, on account of the 
southerly winds which reign at that season. It 
has every convenience of situation and locality 
for forming docks for the repair of shipping. The 
large bay of Anasco, on the south coast, affords 
anchorage to vessels of all sizes. It is also safe 
from the north winds. 

Although on the eastern coast there are many 
places for vessels to anchor, yet none of them are 
exempt from danger during the north winds ex- 
cept Fajardo, where a safe anchorage is to be found 
to leeward of two little islands close to the bay, 
where vessels are completely sheltered. The island 
of Vieques has also several commodious ports and 
harbours, where vessels of the largest size may ride 
at anchor. 

Navigation is very active, but the inhabitants 
do not incline to a seafaring life. The eastern 
part of the island offers less advantage to commerce 
than the western, being to the windward and af- 
fording less shelter to vessels. 

Adjacent to Puerto Rico on the east are the 
islands of Culebra, Vieques, Santa Cruz, and the 
group called the Virgin Islands, belonging to Eng- 
land and Denmark; on the west are those of Saona 
and Mona. The most important of these is Vie- 
ques, situated thirteen miles east of Puerto Rico. 



COASTAL FEATURES, RIVERS, HARBOURS. 21 

It is twenty-one miles long and six miles wide, and 
is divided for its entire length by a cliain of moun- 
tains. Its land is very fertile and adapted to the 
cultivation of almost all the fruits and vegetables 
that grow in the West Indies. Cattle are raised 
and sugar cultivated. The mountains are covered 
with timber forests. It has a population of some 
six thousand. The town, Isabel Segunda, is on 
the north, and the port is unsafe in times of north- 
erly winds, like all the anchorages on that side. 
The few ports on the south are better, the best 
being Punta Arenas. JSTot long ago there were 
two importing and exporting houses on the island 
of Vieques; but, on account of the long period 
of drought and the high duties of foreign imported 
goods, trade has decreased to local consumption 
only. All supplies are brought from San Juan, 
the majority being of American origin. The 
climate is fine and may be considered healthy; 
there have never been any contagious diseases. 

Vieques was temporarily occupied during the 
two centuries preceding the present by the English 
and French, but is now entirely under Spanish 
dominion. Its riches and population are devel- 
oping from day to day in an admirable manner. 
Its government under Spanish rule was politico- 
military, exercised by a colonel. It has a well- 
built church of masonry at the town of Isabel 
Segunda. 

On the southern coast, opposite the harbour 
of Ponce, and apparently joined to Puerto Pico 
3 



22 PUERTO RTCO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

by a reef, is the Caja de Muerto Island — " Dead- 
man's Chest '' — at which there is a good anchor- 
ing ground. Its coasts abound in fish and are sur- 
rounded by keys. 

To the west of Cape Rojo is the island of 
Mona, of volcanic origin, with coasts rising perpen- 
dicularly to a great height above the sea level. It 
is inhabited by a few fishermen, and abounds in 
goats, bulls, and swine in a wild state. 

Mona is near the Mayagiiez inlet, and gives its 
name to the broad channels flowing between Puerto 
Kico and Santo Domingo. Mona, or "Monkey," 
passage terminates on the west in a bold headland 
topped by a huge overhanging rock known to sea- 
men by the suggestive name of " Caigo No 
Caigof' (Shall I fall or not?) 

To the north-northeast of the foregoing and 
opposite Cape Barrionuevo is Monito Island, a 
small and elevated rock, inhabited by innumerable 
waterfowl. 

Opposite San Francisco Point is the small 
island of Deshecho, some two square kilometres 
in extent and covered with trees of thick foliage. 

Fishermen and woodcutters to the number of 
about five hundred make their home on Culebra, 
or Snake Island, the second largest in the Pas- 
sage group, which lies about sixteen miles to the 
eastward of Cape San Juan. Like Vieques, its 



COASTAL FEATURES, RIVERS, HARBOURS. 23 

coast is indented with many bays, wMcli afford ex- 
cellent harbours. There are many small hills that 
are covered with scrub timber, but the soil is so 
sterile compared with the fertility of Puerto Rico 
that no attempt is made to cultivate it on an exten- 
sive scale, and the inhabitants support themselves 
by fishing and gathering wood. 



III. 

CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 

The climate is hot and moist, yet in tlie main 
less injurious to the health of white people than 
that of adjacent islands. ^^ The heat, rains, and the 
seasons are, with very trifling variations, the same 
in all the islands. But the number of mountains 
and running streams, which are everywhere in view 
in Puerto Rico, and the general cultivation of the 
land, may powerfully contribute to purify the at- 
mosphere and render it salubrious to man. The 
only difference of temperature to be observed 
throughout the island is due to altitude, a change 
which is common to every country under the influ- 
ence of the tropics. 

In the mountains the inhabitants enjoy the 
coolness of spring, while the valleys would be un- 
inhabitable were it not for the daily breeze which 
blows generally from the northeast and east. For 
example, in Ponce the noonday sun is felt in all 
its rigour, while at the village of Adjuntas, four 
leagues distant in the interior of the mountains, 
24 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 25 

the traveller feels invigorated by tlie refreshing 
breezes of a temperate clime. At one place the 
thermometer is as high as 90°^ while in another it 
is sometimes under 60°. Although the seasons are 
not so distinctly marked in this climate as they 
are in Europe (the trees being always green), yet 
there is a distinction to be made between them. 
The division into wet and dry seasons (winter and 
summer) does not give a proper idea of the seasons 
in this island; for on the north coast it sometimes 
rains almost the whole year, while sometimes for 
twelve or fourteen months not a drop of rain falls 
on the south coast. However, in the mountains 
at the south there are daily showers. 

As in all tropical countries, the year is di- 
^"ided into two seasons — the dry and the rainy. In 
general, the rainy season commences in August 
and ends the last of December, southerly and west- 
erly winds prevailing during this period. The 
rainfall is excessive, often inundating fields and 
forming extensive lagoons. The exhalations from 
these lagoons give rise to a number of diseases, but, 
nevertheless, Puerto Rico is one of the healthiest 
islands of the archipelago. 

In the month of May the rains commence, 
not with the fury of a deluge, as in the months of 
August and September, but heavier than any rain 
experienced in Europe. Peals of thunder rever- 
berating through the mountains give a warning of 
their approach, and the sun breaking through the 
clouds promotes the prolific vegetation of the fields 



26 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

with its vivifying heat. The heat at this season 
is equal to the summer of Europe, and the nights 
are cool and pleasant; but the dews are heavy and 
pernicious to health. 

The weather, after a fifteen or twenty days' 
rain, clears up, and the sun, whose heat has been 
hitherto moderated by partial clouds and showers 
of rain, seems, as it were, set in a cloudless sky. 
The cattle in the pastures look for the shade of the 
trees, and a perfect calm pervades the whole face 
of nature from sunrise till between ten and eleven 
o'clock in the morning, when the sea-breeze sets in. 
The leaves of the trees seem as if afraid to move, 
and the sea, without a wave or a rufile on its vast 
expanse, appears like an immense mirror. Man 
partakes in the general languor as well as the vege- 
table and brute creation. 

The nights, although warm, are delightfully 
clear and serene at this season. Objects may be 
clearly distinguished at the distance of several hun- 
dred yards, so that one may even shoot by moon- 
light. The months of June and July offer very 
little variation in the weather or temperature. In 
August a suffocating heat reigns throughout the 
day, and at night it is useless to seek for coolness; 
a faint zephyr is succeeded by a calm of several 
hours. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, and 
the body, weakened by perspiration, becomes lan- 
guid; the appetite fails, and the mosquitoes, buz- 
zing about the ears by day and night, perplex and 
annoy by their stings, while the fevers of the 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 27 

tropics attack Europeans with sudden and irre- 
sistible violence. The thermometer frequently ex- 
ceeds 90°. The clouds exhibit a menacing appear- 
ance/ portending the approach of the heavy au- 
tumnal rainsj which pour down like a deluge. 
About the middle of September it appears as if all 
the vapours of the ocean had accumulated in one 
point of the heavens. The rain comes down like 
an immense quantity of water poured through a 
sieve; it excludes from the view every surround- 
ing object, and in half an hour the whole surface 
of the earth becomes an immense sheet of water. 
The rivers are swollen and overflow their banks, 
the low lands are completely inundated, and the 
smallest brooks become deep and rapid torrents. 

In the month of October the weather becomes 
sensibly cooler than during the preceding months, 
and in November the north and northeast winds 
generally set in, diffusing an agreeable coolness 
through the surrounding atmosphere. The body 
becomes braced and active, and the convalescent 
feels its genial influence. The north wind is ac- 
companied (with few exceptions) by heavy show- 
ers of rain on the north coast; and the sea rolls 
on that coast with tempestuous violence, while the 
south coast remains perfectly calm. 

When the fury of the north wind abates, it is 
succeeded by fine weather and a clear sky. Noth- 
ing can exceed the climate of Puerto Rico at this 
season; one can only compare it to the month of 
May in the delightful province of Andalusia, 



28 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

where the cold of winter and the burning heat of 
summer are tempered by the cool freshness of 
spring. This is considered to be the healthiest 
season of the year, when a stranger may visit the 
tropics without fear. 

The small islands, destitute of wood and high 
mountains, which have a powerful effect in attract- 
ing the clouds, suffer much from drought. It 
sometimes happens that in Curasao, St. Bartholo- 
mew, and other islands there are whole years with- 
out a drop of rain, and after exhausting their cis- 
terns the inhabitants are compelled to import water 
from the rivers of other islands. 

" The land breeze '' is an advantage which the 
large islands derive from the inequality of their 
surface; for as soon as the sea-breeze dies away, 
the hot air of the valleys, being rarefied, ascends 
toward the tops of the mountains, and is there con- 
densed by cold, which makes it specifically heavier 
than it was before; it then descends back to the 
valleys on both sides of the ridge. Hence a night 
wind (blowing on all sides from the land toward 
the shore) is felt in all the mountainous countries 
under the torrid zone. On the north shore the 
wind comes from the south, and on the south shore 
from the north. 

The hurricanes which visit the island, and 
which obey the general laws of tropical cyclones, 
are the worst scourges of the country. For hours 
before the appearance of this terrible phenomenon 
the sea appears calm; the waves come from a long 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 29 

distance very gently until near the shore, when 
they suddenly rise as if impelled by a superior 
force, dashing against the land with extraordinary 
violence and fearful noise. Together with this 
sign, the air is noticed to be disturbed, the sun red, 
and the stars obscured by a vapour which seems 
to magnify them. A strong odour is perceived 
in the sea, which is sulphurous in the waters of 
rivers, and there are sudden changes in the wind. 
These omens, together with the signs of uneasi- 
ness manifested by various animals, foretell the 
proximity of a hurricane. 

This is a sort of whirlwind, accompanied by 
rain, thunder, and lightning, sometimes by earth- 
quake shocks, and always by the most terrible and 
devastating circumstances that can possibly combine 
to ruin a country in a few hours. A clear, serene 
day is followed by the darkest night; the delight- 
ful view offered by woods and prairies is diverted 
into the dreary waste of a cruel winter; the tallest 
and most robust cedar trees are uprooted, broken 
off bodily, and hurled into a heap ; roofs, balconies, 
and windows of houses are carried through the air 
like dry leaves, and in all directions are seen houses 
and estates laid waste and thrown into confusion. 

The fierce roar of the water and of the trees 
being destroyed by the winds, the cries and moans 
of people, the bellowing of cattle and neighing of 
horses, which are being carried from place to place 
by the whirlwinds, the torrents of water inundat- 
ing the fields, and a deluge of fire being let loose 



30 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

in flashes and streaks of lightning, seem to an- 
nounce the last convulsions of the universe and 
the death agonies of nature itself. 

Sometimes these hurricanes are felt only on the 
north coast, at others on the south, although gen- 
erally their influence extends throughout the island. 

Earthquakes are somewhat frequent, but not 
violent or of great consequence. The natives 
foretell them by noticing clouds settle near the 
ground for some time in the open places among 
the mountains. The water of the springs emits 
a sulphurous odour or leaves a strange taste in the 
mouth; birds gather in large flocks and fly about, 
uttering shriller cries than usual; cattle bellow 
and horses neigh, etc. A few hours beforehand the 
air becomes calm and dimmed by vapours which 
arise from the ground, and a few moments before 
there is a slight breeze, followed at intervals of 
two or three minutes by a deep rumbling noise, 
accompanied by a sudden gust of wind, which are 
the forerunners of the vibration, the latter follow- 
ing immediately. These shocks are sometimes vio- 
lent and are usually repeated, but, owing to the 
special construction of the houses, they cause no 
damage. 

As the writer remarked years ago: While we 
can not marshal the tropical seasons, as we can 
those of the temperate zones, under their distinc- 
tive appellations, and say. This is spring, this is 
winter, and this is glorious summer, yet there is a 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 31 

well-recognised difference between them. I^atnre 
here is a veritable wanton, for, having no real 
winter to contend with, having no frost, no snow, 
she has only snn and rain to interfere with as well 
as to promote vegetable growth and the develop- 
ment of animal life. 

As a rule throughout the West Indies, the first 
three months of the year are decidedly the best for 
travelling and for out-of-door occupations. The 
days are hot but endurable, the nights are cool, and 
storms are infrequent. With April and May gen- 
tle showers are ushered in, which stimulate the 
growth of plants that have been set out in antici- 
pation of these rains. The negro farmer sets out 
his eddoe, banana, and plantain shoots, and buries 
in the earth his yams, sweet potatoes, etc., which 
form the staples of the " provision grounds.'' Roses 
bloom the year round, but there is a perceptible 
increase in blossoms and fragrance; the beautiful 
frangipanni expands its pink and white whorls 
upon bare stems, and fills the air with its perfume. 
About the honey-scented flowers of the palms, 
limes, and acacise, the bees and butterflies cluster 
in fluttering clouds, while the humming bird darts 
from tree to flower, his coat of burning mail glow- 
ing like a gem. 

June is the month for flowers, as in the north, 



32 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

and it is not ■unusual to see a whole forest starred 
with blossoms, as you sail along tlie coast of some 
island, at a distance sufficient to mass the tree-tops 
into one vast sea or plain of verdure. July usually 
brings an increase of rains, especially in the moun- 
tainous islands, and sends the mercury in the ther- 
mometer upward a few degrees; but even in this 
midsummer month the heat is not uncomfortable, 
and sunstrokes rarely, if ever, occur. July, how- 
ever, is the month set down in the calendar as that 
in which the " hurricane season " begins, and from 
the 25th of this month until the same date in Octo- 
ber it is well to be prepared for a " blow." 

But August is the recognised month for hur- 
ricanes, and deep anxiety is felt; not less in Sep- 
tember, as the sun approaches the line and the 
" equinoctial storm " is due. Still, the hurricane 
season will not allow itself to be " cribbed, cabined, 
and confined " within the limits of three short 
months, and skips along whenever its blithe fancy 
takes it, having a way of turning up at most unex- 
pected seasons, instances being on record of terri- 
ble hurricanes in December, and at least one big 
storm or tornado as early in the year as the month 
of March. But as October draws on, the suspense 
of the West Indians gives place to a feeling of re- 
lief, and when the great rains of the autumnal 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 33 

equinox set in all fear subsides, and tliey give 
themselves up to tlie somewhat equivocal enjoy- 
ment of a season of torrential rains. The last 
three months of the year are, as a rule, cooler, 
and more enjoyable than the others; but in these, 
also, more endemic fevers are prevalent than in 
the others. 

The life of the West Indian thermometer, it 
may be mentioned in passing, is as sluggish and 
uneventful as that of a government clerk. The 
regularity with which it performs its allotted task 
is at first surprising to a visitor from the north, 
as its daily range is scarcely more than ten degrees 
— say, from 70° in the morning to 80° at noon 
and 76° at dusk. And even a hurricane partakes 
of this well-ordered system (except for the occa- 
sionally erratic storms that have been mentioned). 
It rarely fails to come on " schedule time," and is 
not often unexpected. In fact, after the people 
of these islands have prepared for it, by hunting 
some hole or cellar, into which they crawl — with 
a barometer, a stock of " cane juice '' and food for 
the day or night — if, when they emerge, they do 
not find the roofs of their dwellings have come off, 
they are somewhat disappointed. For the hurri- 
cane and the earthquake are two things on which 
they pride themselves, as in a sense peculiar to 



34 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

their insular domains. Earthquakes are the most 
frequent, it has been observed, in the first three 
months of the year, so that the inhabitants of these 
islands have something disquieting on hand pretty 
much all the time. 

The " hurricane season '' was recognised as a 
regular institution many years ago by the Govern- 
ment of the Danish "West Indies (St. Thomas, St. 
John, and Santa Cruz), which appointed the 25th 
of July as a day of humiliation and prayer and the 
25th of October as one of thanksgiving. Obser- 
vations extending through many years, in St. 
Thomas, show that during a period of some one 
hundred and eighty years that island has been vis- 
ited by devastating hurricanes at least ten times. 
The hurricane is very erratic in its course, and, 
while an island lying in its path might be entirely 
devastated, another not far away might escape 
without a wreck. Sir R. H. Schomburgk, an emi- 
nent British explorer, who spent many years in 
the West Indies (and who, by the way, discovered 
the Victoria Regia), found recorded, during a 
period of three hundred and fifty years (from 1492 
to 1846), one hundred and twenty-seven hurricanes 
and destructive gales. Of this number, one oc- 
curred in March, four in June, eleven in July, 
forty in August, twenty-eight in September, and 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 35 

two in December. THrteen of the number had no 
date recorded. 

Some years are more fateful than others; and 
perhaps, indeed, there may be cycles of hurricanes 
which, if we could determine, might be of in- 
finite benefit to commerce and shipping. At all 
events, the establishment in the West Indies of 
stations connected with our own Weather Bureau 
will be of inestimable service to mankind, and per- 
haps tend to a solution of the mystery. 

While Cuba, Jamaica, and Santo Domingo 
come within the hurricane radius, Puerto Rico and 
St. Thomas, together with the islands of the Lesser 
Antilles, suffer much more than the Greater An- 
tilles, as a whole. The natives of these islands had 
a name for the hurricane, from which the Eng- 
lish word is derived — namely, ouragan, which has 
come to us through the Spanish huracan. They 
stood in great fear of these ouraganes, and, though 
they made long voyages in their small canoes or 
dugouts, they took good care not to venture far 
at sea during the continuance of the hurricane 
season. 

The logs of vessels visiting the West Indies 
abound with references to the hurricane, as, for 
instance, this from a Danish packet: 

" Came to anchor in St. Thomas and landed 



36 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the mails. Here the hurricane of the 2d instant 
seems to have concentrated all its force and fury, 
for the harbour and town were a scene that baffles 
all description. Thirty-six ships and vessels totally 
wrecked all around the harbour, among which about 
a dozen had sunk or capsized at their anchors. 
Some rode out by cutting away their masts, and 
upward of one hundred seamen were drowned. 
The harbour is so choked up with wrecks that it 
is difficult to pick out a berth for a ship to anchor. 
. . . The destructive powers of this hurricane will 
never be forgotten. The fort at the entrance of 
the harbour is levelled with its foundations, and its 
twenty-four-pounders thrown about as though it 
had been battered to pieces by cannon-shot." 

St. Thomas has been the object of particular 
spite, it would seem, on the part of old ^olus, 
and it was perhaps owing to that destructive hur- 
ricane and tidal wave in 1867, when we were 
negotiating for the acquisition of the island, that 
our legislators changed their minds and voted 
against its purchase. At that time hundreds of 
houses were levelled, and one of our war-ships was 
swept high and dry ashore, amid the wreckage of 
warehouses and dwellings. 

The West Indians guard as much as possible 
from the hurricanes by building their houses of 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 3Y 

stone, in the main, with massive walls, and provid- 
ing strong bars for doors and windows. When the 
barometer gives notice of the approach of a storm 
these bars are brought out and everything is at 
once made fast. Doors and window-shutters are 
closed, barred, and double-locked, and the town 
looks as if it were deserted by all human beings. 
The state of suspense, while the hurricane rages, 
is simply awful, for no one knows when the house 
may fall and bury all beneath its ruins. Add to 
this the howling of the blasts, the crash of falling 
trees, the piercing cries for help from wounded and 
dying, and one may faintly picture the terrible 
scene. To venture out is almost certain death, the 
air is so filled with flying missiles, such as boards, 
branches of trees, tiles, bricks, and stones. 

Some hurricanes have passed into history for 
their destructiveness and attendant loss of human 
life. From the time of Columbus to the present 
day, "West Indian chronicles are replete with allu- 
sions to the dreadful visitations. In the year 1766, 
for example, the island of Martinique was devas- 
tated by a hurricane that destroyed the dwelling 
of Josephine, the beautiful Creole, who subsequent- 
ly became the wife of E'apoleon. 

She was then but three years old, but the ter- 
rors of that dreadful storm were such that she re- 
membered it all through her eventful life. Jose- 



38 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

pliine's house was levelled to tlie ground, and her 
family was forced to take refuge in a cave, an arti- 
ficial construction called a case-a-vent, or hurri- 
cane-house.. This is usually built into or under 
the side of a hill, with walls of stone several feet 
in thickness, and, as far as possible, in a sheltered 
situation. The door is of thick plank, there are no 
windows, and, as may be imagined, the air within, 
if the storm last long, becomes most oppressive. 
To such a shelter fled the father of Josephine, and 
for hours he and his family remained in this living 
tomb, until the force of the storm was passed, 
when they emerged to witness the total desolation 
of their plantation. For ten years thereafter this 
illustrious woman lived, as a child, in the upper 
rooms of the old sugar-mill, the walls of which 
were standing a few years ago. 

Twenty-eight French and seven English ves- 
sels were wrecked during that storm, besides scores 
of canoes and small craft. Mnety persons perished 
under the ruins of their own houses, and twice that 
number were wounded in the capital, St. Pierre, 
alone. 

In the year 1780, during a hurricane in the 
southern islands, a French fleet containing sixty 
merchant vessels and transports with five hundred 
soldiers was wrecked, only ten vessels escaping. 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 39 

Two British men-of-war sank in the Mono passage, 
and it is said that sixteen thousand people perished in 
Martinique, St. Lucia, and Jamaica. In 1888 the 
coast of Cuba was swept by a hurricane, and in the 
town of Sagua la Grande alone one thousand persons 
perished. In 1846, 1,872 houses were demolished 
during a hurricane, and 216 vessels sunk. 

One of the most destructive hurricanes occurred 
so recently as 1891, when the island of Martinique 
was prostrated by a terrible tornado, from the ef- 
fects of which it may never recover. 

Early on the morning of the 18th of August 
(says the United States consul in his report), the 
sky presented a leaden appearance, decidedly threat- 
ening, with occasional gusts of variable winds, most- 
ly from east-northeast. The temperature was very 
oppressive during the day. The barometer varied 
only slightly, but was a little higher than usual 
until afternoon, when it commenced to fall, at first 
gradually, then very rapidly. It is stated by fisher- 
men who were in the vicinity of Caravel Rock (in 
the sea channel) that an immense wave about a 
hundred feet high passed from the direction of St. 
Lucia, closely followed by another smaller one, al- 
though the sea in the vicinity was quite calm at 
the time. 

The storm struck the east side of the island 
at about 6 p. m., rushing through the ravines and 
destroying everything in its path. On the elevated 



40 PUERTO EICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

plains the ruin was complete. One very peculiar 
feature of the hurricane was the deafness expe- 
rienced by every one during the storm — possibly 
the result of the reduced barometric pressure. Dur- 
ing the cyclone the wind veered from east-northeast 
to south-southeast, from the latter point being the 
most destructive; there were incessant flashes of 
sheet lightning unaccompanied by thunder, and 
immediately after the storm two distinct shocks of 
earthquake, at intervals of about five seconds. 
Early in September following I visited La Trinite 
and noted that all the way the destruction was 
most complete, the trees and all vegetation looking 
as though there had been a forest fire, although 
without the charred appearance. The sugar-cane 
suffered least, and the loss, with favourable 
weather, will not amount to more than one fifth 
its normal value. The factories and distilleries 
appear to have been more completely destroyed 
than any other property. The thermometer ranged 
from 90° to 100° during the storm, and there was 
a deluge of rain, one account stating that over 
four inches fell in a few hours that evening. 

My own residence was unroofed and flooded 
with water, as was the case with nine tenths of the 
buildings of St. Pierre, and throughout the island. 
The loss of life was comparatively small in the capi- 
tal, but large in the interior towns, notably in 
Morne Rouge (a mountain resort above St. Pierre), 
where eight in one family alone lost their lives. 
The total loss of life, so far as reliable information 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HUERICANES, ETC. 41 

can be obtained, was seven hundred, and the loss of 
property was enormous. All the fruit, the main 
reliance of the labouring classes, was destroyed, and 
prices of provisions at once advanced three hun- 
dred per cent. Every vessel along the coast was 
either wrecked or badly damaged, about fifty sail 
in all. The scene the island presents w^ould be 
difficult to describe, and the inhabitants are sorely 
stricken and demoralized. Such a night of terror 
the imagination can scarcely picture. 

This account, valuable from being an official 
report by an eye-witness, the writer of this chapter 
can attest as being authentic and moderate in its 
description, as he was at the island within four 
months of the occurrence, and saw the effects of that 
terrible storm, in the hundreds of unroofed dwel- 
lings and the almost total destruction of the shade 
and forest trees. 

During a residence in the West Indies of sev- 
eral years he experienced but two hurricanes, but 
has no desirQ to extend his acquaintance with 
those devastating storms. Once, in the island of 
Tobago, his camp was destroyed, immense forest 
trees " were thrown to the ground, vast spaces of 
hillside washed away, and it seemed that no sort of 
animal life was left. But a few days after the 
denizens of the forest appeared again, all nature 
smiled as if no storm had ever occurred, and even 



42 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tlie fragile liuinining birds came fluttering about 
tbeir accustomed feeding places. 

In the island of Puerto Eico hurricanes have 
been very destructive in times past. One of the 
earliest chronicled occurred in 1525, and all through 
its history occur such notes as un furioso liuracan, 
etc. In 1678 an English fleet in the harbour of 
San Juan was almost entirely destroyed by a hur- 
ricane just as its commander had summoned the 
fortress to capitulate. In 1702 a Puerto Rican 
squadron was totally destroyed in the same har- 
bour as it was on the point of sailing to attack an 
English fleet. So it would appear as though the 
harbour of San Juan, despite its almost land-locked 
character, was not entirely safe from the attacks of 
the hurricane. That of St. Thomas, sixty miles dis- 
tant, is equally exposed, though the latter opens to 
the south, while the former faces north. 

The island was also visited by a terrible hurri^ 
cane in 1772, and in 1825 another destroyed the 
towns of Patillas, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Gurabo, and 
Caguas, as well as causing much damage in other 
towns in the east, north, and central districts of 
the island. 

And yet hurricanes are not so frequent here 
as in other islands, though they have been destruc- 
tive in the past and are likely to be in the future. 



CLIMATE, SEASONS, HURRICANES, ETC. 43 

The extension by the United States Government of 
its " Weatlier Bureau service '' to the West Indies 
will enable the Puerto Eiquenos to seek a shelter 
when a hurricane is due; and probably the much- 
abused " cyclone cellar " of our great West will be 
among the first blessings of an advanced civiliza- 
tion w^e shall bestow upon those dwellers in the tur- 
bulent tropics! 

In fact, on the occasion of the terrible visita- 
tion of 1898, but a few weeks after the system was 
established in the West Indies (and only six weeks 
after benighted Haiti had refused our Grovernment 
permission to establish a station at Mole San Mco- 
las) the warnings it sent out probably saved many 
lives and much valuable shipping. As it was, hun- 
dreds of lives were lost in Barbadoes and St. Yin- 
cent, and thousands rendered homeless. 



Mean Monthly Temperature at San Juan de Puerto Rico 
during Five Years' Observation. 



Hours of the 
Day. 


i 


J2 


C3 


1 

< 


CS 


i 
>-> 


3 
1-5 


6b 

1 


t 






> 



1 


Seven in the 
morning. . . 

Noon 

Five in the 
evening . . . 


73 
82 

78 


72i 
81 

74 


74 
82 

78 


78 
83 

80 


78 
85 

81 


82 
86 

84 


85 
90 

87 


86 
92 

90 


88 
83 


77 
85 

82 


75 
84 

80 


75 
80 

79 



IV. 

SOME TEOPICAL PRODUCTS. 

"While this delectable island has been of great 
value to Spain, it is likely to be vastly more im- 
portant to the United States, merely on account, 
if for no other reason, of its contiguity. Such per- 
ishable products as bananas and other fruits of the 
tropics, green cocoanuts, etc., the raising of which 
is always profitable, can be brought to our ports on 
swift steamers and will find a ready sale. In fact, 
it will not take many years to show the wisdom of 
annexing this tropical territory to the United States 
and bringing it under the protecting wing of the 
American eagle. 

It is easy enough to generalize and say this 
and that may be raised here, and that generous 
nature brings forth her fruits spontaneously, while 
indolent man reclines in a hammock and only opens 
his mouth to let them drop into it. But, while 
in the main this may be true — that nature is gen- 
erous — still, since all men are not vegetarians and 
can not subsist on fruits alone, it will probably be 
44 



SOME TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 45 

found necessary to work for a living here as else- 
where — that is, if one desires to live well. 

And yet perhaps there is no country where man 
can live with less effort than in this island, and in 
many similar islands scattered throughout the 
Caribbean Sea. 

In a word, it might be said that the products 
of Puerto Rico are those of the West Indies in 
general, and cover the entire range of tropical agri- 
culture and horticulture. I^ature has singularly 
blessed this beautiful island, giving it, in the first 
place, eminence of location, right in the heart of 
the Antillean system, between the Atlantic and the 
Caribbean Sea, making it strategically important 
as well as endowing it with a delightful climate. 

In the second place, its physical configuration 
is such that, though situated within the tropics, its 
great mountain range, culminating in Luquillo, ren- 
ders available the cooler temperature of the temper- 
ate zone, by merely a change of altitude. As in 
Mexico, with its three different zones of climate 
and vegetation, in Puerto Rico we find the same 
conditions prevailing. Along the coast is the low- 
land of the tierra caliente, or the hot region; next 
comes the tierra templada, or delightful temperate 
zone; and lastly, well up the mountain sides, the 
tierra fria, or colder zone. 



46 PUERTO EICO AND ITS EESOURCES. 

^ot tliat we find in Puerto Rico, with total area 
of thirty-six hundred square miles, these climatic 
zones so vastly displayed or so distinctly defined as 
in Mexico ; but we do have here those physical conti- 
nental features as modified by insular environment. 
But, while other islands of the Antilles send moun- 
tains farther skyward and possess the same general 
character of soil, climate, and productions, yet there 
is none so universally cultivable as Puerto Rico. 
From sea to mountain top almost, from shore to 
forest line anyway, the slopes of its thousands hills 
may be cultivated without interruption. As to its 
many valleys and rolling plains: their fertility has 
long been known and appreciated, as evidenced by 
the investments of foreign as well as domestic capi- 
tal in the cultivation of the sugar-cane. 

In a bird's-eye view of this territory, now within 
the jurisdiction of the United States, we will begin 
at the coast and note the prominent productions 
which are not common in our own country. The 
cays and islets, like those on the coast of Florida, 
are frequently bordered with the curious mangrove, 
perched upon its long, spider-like legs; of no par- 
ticular use, except as a land-builder, as by means 
of its adventitious shoots it extends itself in shallow 
waters, and is thus an advance courier of terrene 
extension. 



SOME TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 47 

The mangrove stands witli its roots in salt water, 
filling muddy bays and inlets; but farther back on 
the shore, yet well within reach of the waves in time 
of storms, rising sometimes from banks of pure sand, 
is the cocoa palm, forming a living barrier between 
the sea and cultivable lands. Broad valleys stretch 
along the shore, and extend back toward the hills; 
vast waving billows of sugar-cane, bordered by the 
ranks of cocoa palms. Though sometimes stray- 
ing inland, particularly on level plains and valleys 
with slight elevation, the cocoa palm is usually 
found growing near the shore. Its range extends 
northward from the equator twenty-eight degrees; 
it may be found growing in Florida, but will not 
flourish above latitude 25° 30' north. It is an 
exotic here, though long acclimated, coming prob- 
ably from Ceylon and the East Indies. Growing 
always near the salt water, its nuts fall into the 
waves and are carried to every part of the world, 
and when cast ashore in climates favourable to their 
growth, germinate, and produce sturdy trees. The 
cocoa palm attains a height, when in good condi- 
tion,- of from sixty to eighty feet, lives, it is said, a 
hundred years, bears a hundred nuts annually, and 
has a hundred uses for man. 

It is essentially a poor man's tree, from which 
he derives not only drink and sustenance, but ma- 



48 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

terial for his dwelling. Huts made of palm logs, 
thatched with palm leaves or the spathes that over- 
top the clusters of nuts, are cool, cleanly, cheaply 
made, and suffice for the needs of probably two 
thirds of the dwellers in tropic countries. Our 
soldiers in Cuba have become acquainted with the 
cooling water contained in the ivory chambers of 
green cocoanuts, and can testify to its refreshing 
qualities. Cocoa water is the safest beverage for the 
morning tipple, as well as for any time of day when 
one is not overheated. Those who have resided 
a long time in the tropics, and have become " bibu- 
lously inclined,'' make it their morning ^' eye-open- 
er '' by adding gin or native rum. There is then 
a negative virtue in those liquors, inasmuch as they 
will not hurt you so much as when taken raw! 

To more particularly enumerate the manifold 
uses of the palm : The natives extract from its roots 
a remedy for fevers; boats, houses, and furniture 
are made from its trunk, the wood having a beau- 
tiful grain and being highly esteemed in cabinet 
work; combs are made from the foot stalks of the 
leaves, which are used for thatching huts, in mak- 
ing baskets, mats, hats, etc., while the fibrous ma- 
terial at their bases is used for sieves, and also 
woven into clothing; from the flowers an astrin- 
gent is obtained used in medicine, and from the 



SOME THOPICAL PRODUCTS. 49 

flower-stalks palm wine, or " toddy/' is derived, 
which again, in Ceylon, is distilled into arrack, 
while both sugar and vinegar are products of the 
natural juice. From the fruit or nut, besides the 
delicious water and jelly it contains when green, 
comes the copra, or kernel, which is dried and ex- 
ported, and yields fifty per cent its weight in pure 
oil, after which the refuse is valuable for manure, 
as well as for fowl and cattle food. From the 
husks coir is made, which is manufactured into 
ropes, brooms, brushes, bedding, etc., and the shells 
themselves are useful as lamps, cups, spoons, and 
scoops. In fact, one might go on enumerating 
the various articles used in the primitive domestic 
economy of the tropical native, and find them all 
supplied by the cocoa palm. 

The cocoanut, as a dried product, is shipped 
abroad, chiefly to the United States, to the amount 
of some three million annually; but this is no cri- 
terion of its abundance, for millions more are used 
in the island in the green state, and other millions 
go to waste. The cocoa palm is readily grown, and 
though rather slow in coming to maturity, can be 
made a profitable adjunct to a plantation. It will 
grow in any soil except clay, even in pure sand. 
Any one who has seen the oases of the Algerian 
desert will recall the mounds of verdure topping 



50 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

sterile tracts, composed of tlie date palms, their roots 
fed by undergrouiid springs; and in similar sur- 
roundings, also, the cocoa palm will live and thrive. 
A nut, a hole in the sand filled with soil, plenty of 
salt water, and a little care for a few years, are 
all this palm demands. It will flower about the 
fifth year, produce nuts from the sixth to the tenth, 
and thereafter yield a constantly increasing crop 
for a generation, at least. The better way is to 
plant the nuts in nurseries and transplant to rows 
about forty feet apart, or forty odd to the acre, when 
the plants are six months old. Good healthy nuts 
must be selected, thoroughly ripened, and planted 
in trenches about a foot apart, their stalk ends 
slightly elevated. So essentially is the cocoa the 
product of a maritime climate that when planted 
far from the sea a considerable quantity of salt 
must be put in the holes if fine trees are desired. 

All other species of palm grow here, most of 
them introduced, but some of them native. The 
most noticeable of native species, is the glorious 
royal palm, which is indigenous here as well as in 
Cuba. It dots the fields and stands in groups about 
the houses, and has commercial as well as sesthetic 
value, a full grown tree being worth at least ten 
dollars for its lumber. Most of the native huts are 
roofed with the great, boat-like spathes of this palm, 





A pciliii-lrt'O. Ijuliiu. 



SOME TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 51 

which are sometimes six feet long and three broad. 
These huts, by the way, are called holiios, to distin- 
guish them from more pretentious houses, framed 
and tiled, which are known under the generic name 
of casas. The palm spathes, which fall from the 
tree after the seeds are ripe, are pressed out flat, laid 
in rows over a framework of poles, and kept in place 
by other poles tied loosely above them. A palm- 
tree hohio costs nothing more than the labour neces- 
sary to make it, assuming the trees to belong to the 
land on which it is built, and can be erected in a 
day or two. 

Another native palm, found farther up in the 
hills and mountains, is the beautiful oreodoxa, tall- 
est of the tribe, and which sometimes attains a 
height of one hundred and fifty feet. All the 
palms, and particularly this oreodoxa, are celebrated 
for their " cabbage," or terminal bud, which is a 
delicious morsel when divested of its outer wrap- 
pings and boiled like cauliflower or cabbage. Its 
utilization thus implies, of course, the destruction of 
the tree; but that is a matter of little consequence 
to a hungry native with a forest full of palms, and 
who only considers the labour necessary to cut down 
the tree, and not the injury he does to the land- 
scape. This vandalism is not confined to the Span- 
ish islands, either, for there was once a planter in 



52 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the English island of Barbados who, when the ques- 
tion arose as to the height of a magnificent palm on 
his estate, ordered it cut down, that he might ascer- 
tain to a certainty. He wagered that it would 
measure over one hundred and fifty feet; and he 
won the wager, but he lost the palm. 

Another product of the palm sometimes adorns 
the native's table, and that is a luscious fat grub 
of the palm beetle, which is occasionally found bur- 
rowing in the heart of the tree. This is roasted 
and eaten as a honne houche of great excellence. 
There are also other palms, as the mountain and 
gri-gris, which are native, while all the foreign 
varieties, as the sago, date, and areca, are to be found 
in cultivation. All are useful, and doubtless, with 
improved methods of cultivation and horticulture, 
and with the experiments that Yankee proprietors 
will introduce, they will yield vastly more in the 
future than they have in the past. 

Then there are the bananas, which flourish all 
over the lowland region and far up the hills. Ac- 
cording to the last available statistics, two hundred 
million bananas are shipped annually from this 
island, and there are no plants requiring less atten- 
tion and less time than bananas and plantains. All 
varieties may be grown here, and there is no reason 
why Puerto Rico, under American protection and 



SOME TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 53 

witli the stimulus of American enterprise, shall not 
rival Jamaica in its production of these delicious 
fruits. One planting of a banana shoot will last 
for years, as it practically renews itself, and after 
the second year the owner of a banana plantation 
has only to pick and ship the fruit, and await the 
returns in cash. 

Little capital is needed for a start in banana cul- 
ture; it is the poor man's crop, only provided he 
can obtain a small side-hill farm, a few banana 
shoots, and supply himself with a stock of patience 
to last a couple of years. While the banana and its 
sister plantain grow best in rich and level lands, 
yet they can be cultivated on hillsides so steep that 
no plough can furrow them, and where it would be 
impossible to raise sugar-cane with profit. The 
plantain is in many respects more desirable as a 
table supply than the banana, as it is better cooked 
than raw, and furnishes a staple food of which one 
does not so soon tire as an article of diet. 

These twin sisters of the tropical world are 
among its most glorious productions, and, according 
to Humboldt, will yield vastly more to the acre 
than almost anything else that grows. He esti- 
mated that the same space of ground necessary to 
produce thirty-three pounds of wheat and ninety- 
eight of potatoes would yield four thousand pounds 
5 



54 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

of bananas; and as to its nutriment, it is superior 
to wheat as well as meat, pound for pound. 

The parent plant sends up a number of side 
shoots or suckers, from which others are propagated. 
When these shoots are about two feet in height they 
are cut off by a spade or cutlass (machete) and set 
out in rows in soil well worked, about fifteen feet 
apart each way, or about one hundred and sixty 
plants to the acre. The land should be well drained 
and weeded, and a crop will be in evidence a year 
from planting, and thenceforth fruit will be matur- 
ing all the time. 



y. 

SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 

The vegetable kingdom is rich enougli in plants, 
native and introduced, which grow perfectly well 
in a tropical climate, without going far afield for 
other cultivations. The main products of the low- 
lands, sugar and tobacco, require such skill, capi- 
tal, and attention that a novice would very likely 
fail if he were to attempt their cultivation, let alone 
the probable impossibility of obtaining the neces- 
sary lands; for Puerto Rico is not a wild country 
sparsely populated, but has a rather dense popula- 
tion of more than eight hundred thousand, which 
at present occupies, if it does not utilize, the greater 
portion of its thirty-six hundred square miles of area. 
The methods of cultivation, so far as sugar is con- 
cerned, are those in vogue in Cuba; but there are 
fewer great ingenios, with perfect appliances for 
crystallizing and refining, and more of the trapiche 
de huey, or one-ox mills, here. Still, the annual 
export of sugar rises to seventy thousand tons, with 
great opportunity, in the near future, for expan- 
sion of territory cultivated and of output. 

55 



56 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

We can not overlook these two great staples, 
sugar and tobacco, as they rank respectively second 
and third in the island's products. Sugar is at its 
best in the littoral region, requires a tropical climate, 
hot and moist, and prefers a saline atmosphere. It 
grows in almost any soil, but in the rich volcanic 
loams of the Lesser Antilles does better than any- 
where else outside of Cuba. It is propagated by 
cuttings, which consist of the two or three upper 
joints of the cane, and these are placed in furrows 
made by the plough or in holes ten or twelve inches 
deep and four or five feet apart. Two cuttings, 
each about six inches long, are placed in every hole, 
with but an inch protruding above the ground, and 
these will grow into a " bunch " of canes which, in 
fertile soil, will yield four gallons of juice, from 
which four pounds of muscovado sugar may be ob- 
tained. The best time for planting is from October 
to January, according to the season, whether wet 
or dry; affected, of course, by local conditions. The 
land should be well cultivated and mellow, and the 
weeds removed until the cane is high enough to 
shade the soil. On very fertile soils, however, it is 
not necessary to plant oftener than once in ten or 
fifteen years, as the roots of the cane left in the 
ground after cutting send up rattoons, or shoots — • 
in other words, replant themselves. Though some 



SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 57 

deep volcanic soils will tlius reproduce the original 
cane for fifteen or twenty years, it is not considered 
good farming to allow this process to go beyond four 
or five. 

The universal cropping time in the West Indies 
is during the first four or five months of the year, 
or from January to May, inclusive. Then the air 
is redolent of sweet odours, and the negroes and cat- 
tle on the plantations are fat and sleek from the un- 
limited devouring of crude cane and sugar. The 
sugar-cane was introduced here early in the six- 
teenth century, probably from the Canaries, via 
Santo Domingo, and found a congenial home, as 
well as in Cuba. It is doubtful if it ever grew to 
such proportions in its native home as in the West 
Indies, where specimens of cane have been raised 
over twenty feet in height, though the average 
height in the field is from eight to ten feet. The 
canes are cut off close to the ground and then 
chopped into lengths of four or five feet, tied up in 
bundles, and carted to the mill, which may be a 
trapicJie de huey, or bullock-mill; a small affair run 
by water power; or an immense ingenio, run by 
steam, with electric lights and motors, and all the 
latest inventions for clarifying, crystallizing, and 
refining the juice. The simplest processes, however, 
have hitherto prevailed in Puerto Rico, and it is in 



58 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the establislinient of great central factories — practi- 
cally refineries — called by tlie French usineSy that 
American capital may find a profitable venture. It 
is almost as impracticable for the average planter to 
refine his own sugar as for the average farmer in 
the temperate zone to grind his own wheat into 
flour. In the ordinary " sugar works " the latest 
scientific methods are not utilized, and most of them 
are run in as primitive a manner as in the old-time 
" slavery days," when black men were so plentiful 
that it was cheaper to '^ buy than to breed/' and 
manual labour took the place of steam and elec- 
tricity. When the railroad system of Puerto Rico 
is completed, and all the chief settlements con- 
nected it will be an easy matter to erect a few 
immense usines in centrally located valleys, 
with tramways radiating in various directions 
and communication by land and water with 
the hundreds of small plantations, by which 
means the small proprietors may bring their 
products to the central factories. At the same 
time, the fact should not be lost sight of that of 
late years sugar has not been a profitable culti- 
vation, except on a vast scale, owing to various 
causes, such as lack of cheap labour, since the 
abolition of slavery, and the increasing cultivation 
of the sugar beet. 



SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 59 

There is, of course, no region like the famous 
" Yuelta Abajo " of Cuba for the raising of high- 
grade tobacco, but the " weed " of Puerto Rico is 
said to press it close in competition. Indeed, there 
is no reason why it should not, for the peculiar soil 
of the Abajo — a light, sandy loam, rich in lime, pot- 
ash, and vegetable humus — is found in this island 
in many valleys, and the climatic conditions are 
similar and favourable. And as most of the to- 
bacco raised here, to the amount of more than half 
a million dollars annually, has hitherto been sent 
to Cuba, one should be pardoned a suspicion that 
Puerto Rico's product may be found incorporated 
in not a few of those " genuine Havanas " for which 
the gilded youth of our country pay such fabulous 
prices ! 

But tobacco is capriclioso (capricious), the Span- 
iards say, and the right combination of soil and 
climate can be found only by experimentation. It 
was first discovered by Columbus in the Bahamas, 
but receives its name from an island — Tobago- — far- 
ther south of Puerto Rico than the latter is of Cuba, 
and hence much nearer. A native of the tropics, 
then, although it will grow in northern climes, 
yet the heat and humidity necessary for its perfect 
development are said to exist only in such regions 
as the West Indies. Puerto Rico has grown to- 



60 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

bacco for many years, and produces a fairly good 
brand of cigars, which ranks with those of Yera 
Cruz in Mexico. But the art of curing the cohiha, 
as the tobacco plant is called, has never been ac- 
quired by the Puerto-Riqueiios. Now that many 
of the Cuban " fabricators " have found a home in 
the island, it will not be long before it will be 
exporting " Reinas de Puerto-rico,'' " Conchas de 
San Juan," " Partagas de la Borinquen," etc. The 
smokers of the United States alone are said to con- 
sume some two hundred million so-called ^^ Hava- 
nas," but it is well known that not more than fifty 
million real Havanas are annually exported to this 
country, so it is clear that a few of our four billion 
cigars yearly sent up in smoke are not the genuine 
article. In fact, it is extremely difficult, and al- 
ways was, to find good Havana cigars in the capital 
of Cuba itself, for the best are absorbed, at fabulous 
prices, by the ricos homhres of European courts. 

It will not be difficult to gain a prestige for 
the Puerto Rico tobacco like that enjoyed by the 
Cuban, if planters with brains and capital will se- 
cure control of some vast valley, plant it with genu- 
ine Cuban seed, and establish a name for its prod- 
ucts. ISText to the right soil and climate — which 
exist in this island — the most important factor in 
producing a perfect article is great care in raising 



SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 61 

the plant and curing the leaves. It is only neces- 
sary to overcome the native indolence to secure 
good results; and as tobacco, unlike sugar, is always 
in demand at a good price, and its cultivation is 
easy, it would seem to open a profitable perspective 
for American capital. 

According to the Estadistica General del Com- 
er cio Exterior of 1897, Puerto Rico exported to the 
amount of $646,556 in tobacco, $3,747,891 in 
sugar, and $8,789,788 in coffee; so it would appear 
that coffee is the great staple, yielding in value 
nearly one half the island's exports. 

This is an excellent thing for Puerto Rico, for 
the world's coffee-raising area is more restricted than 
that of sugar, or of almost any other agricultural 
product except tea. This means that the world's 
supply of coffee must always come from a region 
which is not susceptible of unlimited extension, as 
is the case with the cereals, etc. To the peculiar 
terrene and climatic conditions necessary to produce 
perfect tobacco, add another factor — that of alti- 
tude — essential to a perfect coffee, a combination 
that, does not exist everywhere, even in the tropics. 

The total value of the coffee imported into the 
United States in the fiscal year 1898 was, despite 
the low prices of the year, $65,067,561, against 
$60,507,630 in 1888, $51,914,605 in 1878, $25,- 



62 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

288,451 in 1868, $18,369,840 in 1858, and $8,- 
249,997 in 1848. Thus the money sent abroad for 
coffee in the year just ended is eight times that of a 
half century ago, and nearly three times that of 
1868. The cost of the coffee imported into the 
United States during the past ten years has been 
$875,494,241, these figures being the prices paid 
in the foreign markets at the port of exportation. 
Thus it appears that in the decade just ended there 
has gone out of the country an average of $87,500,- 
000 per annum for an article which may be success- 
fully grown in all the islands now coming under 
the jurisdiction of the United States. 

Practically one half of the coffee grown in the 
world now comes to the United States. The latest 
estimates put the coffee production of the world at 
1,600,000,000 pounds per annum, while the im- 
ports into the United States last year were more 
than half that amount. 

Of the total coffee production of the world, 
about two thirds is grown in Brazil, where an ex- 
port duty of eleven per cent is placed on every 
pound of coffee exported. The other third of the 
world's production, which is grown outside of Bra- 
zil, is scattered around the globe in the belt extend- 
ing to the thirtieth degree on each side of the equa- 
tor, the most successful locations being well- 
watered mountain slopes from one to four thousand 
feet above sea level. The requisites for coffee pro- 
duction are found in all the islands now likely to 
come under control of the United States, while the 



SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 63 

fact that Brazil, the greatest coffee producer, places 
an export duty on all coffee exported, operates to 
the advantage of those desiring to enter upon the 
production of this article, either for home consump- 
tion or for competition in the markets of the world. 

Puerto Rico has for years produced considerable 
coffee, this being her most important export, and 
amounting to from twenty-five to thirty million 
pounds per annum. Mr. F. B. Thurber, a well- 
known authority on this subject, says in his book, 
Coffee, from Plantation to Cup : " Puerto Eico fur- 
nishes a coffee that is in great favour in Spain and 
Italy and also on the island of Cuba. The culti- 
vation is carried on largely in the provinces of Maya- 
giiez, Ponce, Guayanilla, Aguadilla, Arecibo, and 
San Juan. In flavour this ranks as a mild coffee." 

The coffee of Puerto Pico ranks with the best, 
and (though this may seem a reflection on our tastes) 
that is the reason it goes abroad and is not common 
in our marts. The finest coffee plantations are in 
the interior, and the south and west portions of 
the island, situated, as a rule, above an altitude 
of six hundred feet; but the newly introduced Li- 
berian coffee will grow in the lowlands. As a cul- 
tivation, nothing can surpass this, taking one into 
the most beautiful parts of the island, where the 
heat of the lowlands is modified, where tree-ferns 



64 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

and bamboos wave tbeir luxuriant fronds, wbere 
streams flow tbrougb tree-sbaded valleys, and wbere 
tbe diseases of tbe littoral region rarely are endemic. 

Tbe coffee tree is a tender plant, requiring wben 
young sbade and protection from tbe winds, and 
tbese are secured by planting rows of bananas 
and plantains for tbe first and wind-breaks of 
large trees for tbe second. It will begin to 
bear in about tbree years, and continue to in- 
crease its yield for a dozen years tbereaf ter. Plant- 
ed at a distance of ten to twenty feet apart, tbe 
spaces between tbe trees may be utilized for 
^' catcb crops '' of sucb vegetables as eddoes, yams, 
'' pigeon peas," and sweet potatoes, wbile tbe sbel- 
tering banana plants tbemselves will yield a crop of 
fruit tbe second year, but sbould not be allowed to 
remain after tbe f ourtb. 

Tbe Arabian coffee does best at an average 
beigbt above tbe sea of fifteen bundred to tbree 
tbousand feet, and tbis is wdiere, in tbose mountain- 
ous islands of tbe West Indies, climate, scenery, 
and bygienic conditions exist in perfection. Tbe 
life of a coffee planter, bowever, is necessarily an 
isolated one, and it is a question wbetber many peo- 
ple can endure tbe environment of solitude, tbe ab- 
sence of scbools and society; but tbat depends upon 
individual tastes. 



SUGAR, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 65 

A romantic story attaches to the introduction 
of coffee into the West Indies, all the subsequent 
groves, it is said, having been derived from a single 
plant, presented by a magistrate of Amsterdam to 
Louis XI Y of Trance in 1714. The Dutch con- 
trolled the output of coffee then, and were very 
jealous lest it should spread to islands not in their 
possession, but plants from this parent tree were 
sent from France to Martinique. The voyage was 
long and the water gave out on board ship, but the 
botanist in charge deprived himself of half his al- 
lowance daily and shared it with the plants. From 
this small beginning grew the groves which now 
adorn not only the hill and mountain sides of Mar- 
tinique, but of Puerto Rico. 

As the coffee trees if allowed to grow will reach 
a height of from thirty or forty feet and as the 
best coffee grows at the top, it is necessary to cut 
them down to not more than six or eight feet, by 
which process they are made accessible to the pickers. 
They should also be vigorously pruned, or they will 
become masses of branches and less fruitful than if 
carefully trimmed. 

The coffee fruit consists of two seeds inclosed in 
a sweetish pulp, the outside skin of which becomes 
red when ripe, when it should be picked or shaken 
from the tree. Of the two important varieties 



e^ PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

grown in the West Indies, the Liberian — found not 
many years ago in the forests of West Africa — is 
more hardy than the Arabian, which was originally 
derived from the mountains of Abyssinia. The 
crop wdll vary according to the number of trees per 
acre and the fertility of the soil, but from six to 
twelve hundred pounds per acre, or an average of a 
pound to a tree, is considered fair. The Liberian 
coffee, which, by the way, is less subject to the scale 
insect than the Arabian, is hardier and more pro- 
lific, sometimes yields to the amount of three to 
eight pounds per tree. Over in Haiti, it is said, the 
indolent negroes wait till the coffee falls from the 
tree, then scrape it up, with the dirt and leaves com- 
bined; but the best plan is to pick by hand as soon 
as ripe. A good picker can gather three bushels 
a day, which yields about thirty pounds of dry 
coffee. After picking, the fruit is taken to the 
^' pulper," a machine in which the pulp is removed 
by being carried between a roller and a smooth sur- 
face. Then it is soaked in water to remove the mu- 
cilaginous matter adhering to it, then dried, and 
when thoroughly dry — not before — it may be passed 
beneath a heavy roller to remove the " parchment," 
after which it is winnowed and stored. 

Coffee is an Old World product ; from the ^ew 
World comes the bean which yields that delicious 



SIJGAK, TOBACCO, COFFEE, AND CACAO. 67 

beverage cacao, or chocolate. Its name indicates 
its indigenous origin, for from the Aztec cacahuail 
was derived the name " chocolate/' by which it is 
known to-day. Cacao is a native of tropical Amer- 
ica, and was probably known to the aboriginal in- 
habitants of this island, as stones have been dis- 
covered which were evidently used for crushing 
the bean, or chocolate. The tree grows well in the 
coast country, but best in valleys from three to 
five hundred feet above the sea, where it can get 
abundant moisture and the washings of the hills. 
It reaches a height of twenty or thirty feet, but 
should be carefully pruned and thinned, so that it 
can be kept within bounds. When in bearing, the 
cacao pods grow from the limbs and branches, and 
also directly from the trunk itself, looking at a dis- 
tance like great, swollen, red and purple rats climb- 
ing up the trees. 

The seeds, from which the chocolate is obtained, 
are contained inside this pod, in a sweetish pulp, 
sometimes to the number of thirty or forty. They 
are easily separable, and the cultivation of the cacao 
— taking one, as it does, to the fragrant valleys of 
the higher hills — would seem a very desirable oc- 
cupation. At least one island, which was nearly 
ruined by clinging to the old-fashioned methods of 
sugar cultivation, was saved and eventually became 



68 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

wealthy by abandoning sugar and taking to cacao. 
This island is Grenada, in the southern West In- 
dies; and there seems to be no reason why any other 
should not be equally benefited by following the 
same course. 

The general cultivation, preparation of the land, 
etc., is similar to that employed in coffee culture, 
but the trees are not in full bearing under seven 
years, and do not yield much before five. So it will 
be well to utilize the waste land between rows 
with what are called '^ catch crops '^ of cassava, tan- 
nias, etc., bananas and plantains for the shade, and 
to set out quick-growing trees for wind-breaks. 
The average yield is from two to eight pounds per 
tree, and the various processes of fermenting, cur- 
ing, " claying,^' etc., require experience — which 
may be gained from some native proprietor while 
the grove is growing. 



VI. 

FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. 

Our imports of fruits and nuts, it is estimated, 
" nearly all of them of tropical growth, and many 
of them from these very islands (Cuba and Puerto 
Rico)," amount to $17,000,000 every year; of 
fibres, jute. Sisal hemp, etc., to $12,000,000; and of 
cacao, to $3,000,000. As the fibre-plants can be 
produced in such relatively barren places as the Ba- 
hamas and Yucatan, where the soil is too poor for 
almost anything else, it is doubtful if it would be 
wise to attempt their cultivation in this island. 

Respecting fruit culture and its future in Ja- 
maica, a letter from that island, written in 1898, 
contains this item: 

^^ The success of the Boston Fruit Company has 
been an object-lesson to the people of Jamaica that 
has not been unheeded. The Americans constitut- 
ing this company have shown what can be accom- 
plished by intelligent and thrifty enterprise, and 
have steadily extended the range of their cultiva- 
6 69 



YO PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tion, and have now so large an acreage establislied 
in fruit and purchase fruit to such a large extent 
that they are credited with maintaining in pros- 
perity three of the fourteen parishes of the island. 

" The question is agitating the people of those 
parishes whether under the changed conditions the 
Boston Fruit Company will not cease any further 
expansion in Jamaica, or will not even contract its 
operations and eventually abandon this island al- 
together and transfer all its enterprises and energy 
to Cuba. If the people should become convinced 
that the latter result is almost certain, unless Ja- 
maica is placed on an equal status with Cuba with 
respect to the American market, the movement in 
favour of annexation would receive a mighty im- 
petus.'' 

Besides the fruits already mentioned there are 
the grape, date, fig, sapadilla, shaddock, citron, gua- 
va, mango, pomegranate, avocado pear, plum, tam- 
arind, ^^ cherry," star apple, mamie apple, acajou, 
or '^ cashew," granadilla, water lemon, bread-fruit, 
custard apple, sugar apple, sour sop, and others 
which grow wild, as the beach plum, the sea 
grape, etc. 

A shrub which now practically runs wild is the 
guava, from which the delicious jelly is made. Old 
or neglected plantations soon become covered with 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. Yl 

guava bushes, wliicli bear abundantly and might be 
made very profitable. 

Owing to the absence of winter frosts and snows 
there is a perpetual succession of fruits and vege- 
tables, and something may be planted, as well as 
harvested, every week and month in the year. 

All these fruits are wholesome enough when 
eaten ripe and taken at the proper time of day, but 
much sickness is caused here by the eating of imma- 
ture fruits, as well as from the same indiscretion 
in the temperate zone. Anent the frightful sick- 
ness prevalent in the ranks of our soldiers in Cuba, 
during their brief campaign in that island, a writer 
at the time says: 

In the long list of suggestions from the med- 
ical department, all of which were disregarded, the 
ripe mango was recommended as a desirable article 
of diet. But somebody at headquarters issued an 
edict against it, and the soldiers were called up by 
the company commanders and told that if they ate 
the fruit they would be punished. This is the way 
the company commanders addressed their men : 

" 1^0 w I see that some of you have been eating 
those mangos in spite of our advice to the contrary. 
Do you know what the Cubans call this fruit? 
They call it General Mango, because they say that 
the mango has killed more Spanish soldiers than 
all of their generals put together. If you eat it 



72 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

General Mango will kill yon, just as it lias killed the 
Spaniards. I am told on good authority that if 
you eat a mango every day and then get yellow 
fever you will swell up frightfully and surely die. 
Now, I give you this positive order, that not one 
of you shall eat any of this fruit, and I shall punish 
severely any man that disobeys the order." 

After such an order the obedient regulars 
generally let the mangos alone, although they were 
abundant, tempting, and delicious. The volunteers 
ate them more freely, without any bad result, so 
far as heard from. When the Cuban officers and 
aides were asked their opinion as to the wholesome- 
ness of the fruit they generally said : " It is perfect- 
ly wholesome if eaten ripe; all these bad things 
apply to the unripe mango, which is sometimes eaten 
by the Spaniards." Most of the army doctors 
seemed to think that the only way to prevent the 
eating of the unripe mango was to prohibit the fruit 
altogether. There were many cases in which even 
the most #bedient regulars were impelled by thirst 
and by the hunger for a bite of fruit to disobey the 
order; and as the clear yellow mango is always ripe, 
while the unripe fruit is green or greenish, it did 
not take a very high order of intelligence to discrim- 
inate between the fruit which was fit to eat and 
that which was unfit. 

It is certainly hard to believe any ill of a 
mango when one looks at it. The tree itself is a 
most beautiful and attractive thing. Imagine a 
tree as large as a big oak, covered with rich and 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. 73 

glossy foliage finer than tliat of the orange tree, 
and covered also with golden fruit nestling bril- 
liantly among the green leaves. On such a tree 
there must often be a hundred bushels of mangos, 
fully matured, every one of which is as large as 
a good-sized pear. In shape the mango is not 
unlike a short and thick cucumber, and it has a 
thin, tough skin, which, when matured, reveals a 
mass of the most delicious juicy pulp. The only 
trouble about eating the mango is that one needs 
an ablution afterward. Some say that the ideal 
way is to get into a bath-tub, take the mango, eat 
it, and then go on with the bath. But one is per- 
fectly willing to take the trouble to seek the ablu- 
tion, for the sake of the fruit. And imagine the 
trees which bear the fruit growing wild everywhere, 
and also springing up in every garden and door- 
yard ; the largest and finest ones were away up on a 
wild mountain side, where apparently no one had 
ever gathered the abounding fruit. I^or are they 
a native fruit in Cuba; they were introduced from. 
India and have simply gone wild in the rich soil of 
the island. 

A fruit which it will particularly pay to culti- 
vate is the pineapple, discovered growing wild in 
the Bahamas by the first Spaniards to arrive here, 
and the native name of which has been adopted as 
its Latin generic appellation, anana. It is one of 
the many gifts of the New World to the Old, and is 



74 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

pronounced one of the most delicious fruits known 
to man. The West Indian coast-belt is its natural 
home, and here it flourishes as nowhere else, the 
pines of Jamaica, Antigua, and the Bahamas being 
celebrated for their luscious flavour. They will 
grow in almost any light, sandy, or gravelly soil, 
and even in the interstices of decomposed coral rock; 
in the Bahamas, indeed, it is said that holes for 
planting are made with a crowbar and seeds driven 
in with a shot-gun! 

The pine, however, appreciates a rich, porous 
soil, and after the land is well cleared the plants may 
be set out in rows at from three to six feet apart; 
the latter distance is preferable, owing to the diffi- 
culty of cultivation, from the sharp spines of the 
plant. At six feet apart an acre will support twen- 
ty-five hundred plants, and at three feet five thou- 
sand. Although the pine will grow from seed as 
well as from the crown of leaves, detached, that tops 
the fruit, yet the best mode of propagation is by 
the suckers, which spring spontaneously from the 
parent plant. They thus reproduce themselves, like 
the banana and plantain, and on rich soil will grow 
for years and produce well, but fresh plants should 
be set out after three or four years. With proper 
attention to the selection of choice varieties, culti- 
vation, and particularly packing for market, it is 




fin 
c3 

PJ 
<1 



FEUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. Y5 

believed that the culture of the pine will soon be- 
come a favourite one in the West Indies, because 
of its profits and the convenience to American 
markets. 



Oranges, limes, lemons — all products of the 
citrus family, in fact — flourish here with little cul- 
tivation, and have not yet been considered of suffi- 
cient important to merit attention; but there is no 
doubt that they can be made very profitable. There 
are no frosts here, as occasionally in Florida ; trans- 
portation to our Eastern seaboard, being by ship and 
steamer, w^ould be less than railroad freights from 
California; so far as known, there is no obstacle to 
the free cultivation of all these fruits. The same 
may be said of pineapples — an uncertain crop in 
frosty countries — which grow almost spontane- 
ously here, and to enormous size, with delicious 
flavour. 

It was estimated by a writer on orange culture 
some years ago that the yield of that fruit in the 
United States gave an average of but one orange to 
each inhabitant, and when our population should 
have doubled it would require no less than thirty 
billion to furnish it with one orange per diem. 
And as the fruit of the citrus family only arrives 
at perfection in the tropics, there is every reason 



76 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

to believe that the West Indies will soon take the 
place of Mediterranean countries in furnishing our 
supply — because of their accessibility, of the com- 
paratively short voyage necessary to market, and of 
the vast areas now covered with wild growths capa- 
ble of being brought into cultivation. 

These islands are the natural home of this fam- 
ily, and while the average yield of an orange tree 
may be estimated at from five hundred to one thou- 
sand in Florida and California, from three to eight 
thousand have frequently been taken from a single 
tree in the West Indies; in one island as high as 
fourteen thousand. Details of cultivation would 
be superfluous, in view of what has been published 
in recent years; and we will merely note that, 
allowing for difference in soils and climate, alti- 
tude, etc., the methods are the same, or ought to 
be, as prevail in Florida and California. 

Lemons also, but particularly limes — those small 
golden balls of fruit filled with antiscorbutic juice 
— flourish in the West Indies at every altitude, pre- 
ferring, however, sheltered valleys not far from the 
coast. While the lime is often shipped as a fruit, 
it has been found more economical to concentrate 
the juice and bottle or barrel it, and large fortunes 
have been made by the proprietors of lime estates 
in Jamaica, Dominica, Montserrat, and Trinidad, 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. Y7 

where its cultivation has supplanted that of the 
sugar-cane. 

There is one group of tropical products which, 
though cultivated in the East for centuries, has not 
received great attention as yet in the Occident. 
This comprises the spices — cinnamon, ginger, nut- 
meg, vanilla, clove, pepper — which have all been 
found to take kindly to the West Indian climate. 
In point of fact, there is one spice, pimento, which 
is native to these islands. Central and South 
America, and has been exported from Jamaica for 
many years to the amount of nearly half a million 
dollars annually. 

As any one who has seen a " pimento-walk " 
will testify, there are few more beautiful objects 
in nature than a grove of pimento trees, such, for 
instance, as the groves of St. Ann's Parish, in 
Jamaica, the trees reaching a uniform height of 
thirty feet, their brown stems smooth and clean,' 
their branches covered with glossy green leaves. 

The pimento will grow on a poor soil and loves 
the slopes of seaboard hills and mountains, a hot 
climate, and dry atmosphere. It runs wild in many 
islands, and, in fact, the process of planting recom- 
mended by an authority is to " allow a piece of land 
in the neighbourhood of already existing pimento 



Y8 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

groves to become overgrown with busli, wbicli in 
tb.e course of time is found to contain numerous 
pimento seedlings, grown from seeds devoured by 
birds and deposited there. When the plants are 
of a certain size the bush is cleared and the pimento 
trees allowed to grow up. Small crops may be 
gathered within seven years from the seed, the in- 
crease being regular for many years." The berries, 
known as '^ allspice,'' are gathered green, the young 
branches to which they are attached being broken 
off by boys who climb the tree and thrown to girls 
and women, who pick off the berries and take them 
to the drying places. Ordinarily the berries on the 
" barbecues " are dried in the sun, but an improve- 
ment on this process is the use of the American 
fruit evaporator, especially during damp or rainy 
weather. This is the only care necessary, and if 
prices for pimento were always good no crop could 
equal it, for the yield is often a hundred pounds 
to the tree. 

The nutmeg probably surpasses the pimento as 
an article of commerce in constant demand, but re- 
quires more care in its growth and preparation for 
market. A native of the Eastern Spice Islands, 
when the Dutch first gained possessions there, and 
for a long time after, they absolutely controlled the 
market, and to insure uniformly high prices burned 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. Y9 

all tlie surplus, sometimes destroying millions of 
dollars' worth. But the French finally got hold 
of some plants and took them to Cayenne, and a 
certain species of pigeon carried the nutmegs them- 
selves to other islands in their crops, so that the 
Dutch monopoly was broken. 

The tree grows to a height of thirty to fifty 
feet and is dioecious, so that care must be taken to 
have the majority of trees in a grove females, and 
the males should be planted, as far as possible, to 
the windward of the former, to insure perfect pol- 
lination.. The nutmeg likes a hot, moist climate 
and a rich virgin soil, in a sheltered situation, and 
may be propagated from seed, either sown in nur- 
series or planted in the field twenty-five to thirty 
feet apart. It will begin to bear in the sixth or 
seventh year, the nut becoming ripe six months 
after the flower appears. The ripe fruit is a beau- 
tiful object, resembling somewhat an apricot on the 
outside, which bursts in two and discloses the dark 
nut covered with the aril or mace, which is of a 
brilliant scarlet. This is stripped off and pressed 
fiat; the shells are broken open when perfectly dry 
and the nuts powdered with lime to prevent the at- 
tacks of worms, and sometimes smoked to preserve 
them. Sometimes twenty thousand nuts are ob- 
tained from a tree, with about three pounds of mace 



80 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

to every tliousand nuts. There are botanic gardens 
in St. Vincent, Jamaica, and Trinidad in which 
all kinds of tropical fruits and nuts have been ex- 
perimented with, also in Martinique and Guade- 
loupe, but none, so far as known, in Cuba or Puerto 
Eico — that is, no experimental gardens for the 
benefit of the people, as in the English and French 
islands. It is to the persistent efforts of the Eng- 
lish and French in this direction that the world owes 
so much of its economic botanical knowledge to-day. 

Another native of the Spice Islands has been 
successfully grown here — in these islands — for more 
than a hundred years, and that is the clove. A 
gentleman resident in Dominica secured some plants 
from Cayenne in 1789, and one of the original trees 
is said to be living yet in that island. The general 
cultivation is like that of the nutmeg, but the clove, 
being the unexpanded flower, is beaten from the 
branches as soon as the buds have turned from green 
to red. The trees will grow to a height of thirty 
feet and begin to bear in the fifth or sixth year, an 
average of five to ten pounds of cloves per tree being 
expected. These are dried in the sun, sometimes 
smoked to give them color, and require very little 
care, except to be kept from dampness. 

Another spicy product is cinnamon, which may 
be grown anywhere in the islands up to fifteen hun- 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. 81 

dred feet above the sea, and is not particular about 
soil or situation. The best cinnamon is obtained 
from the shoots, and should yield to the amount 
of two hundred pounds of the prepared bark to 
the acre. 

Jamaica ginger is known the wide world over, 
not because it is a peculiar product of that island, 
however, for the plant is a native of the far East. It 
grows equally well in all the islands so long as the 
climate is hot and moist and the soil rich. The 
" ginger '' lies in the underground stems of the 
plant, or the rhizomes^ and to propagate it the latter 
are divided into small pieces and planted in well-pre- 
pared soil in the month of March or April. The 
plant will flower in September, but the rhizomes 
should not be dug before the following January or 
February, when they are turned out of the soil 
after the manner of potatoes, yielding a crop, under 
favourable circumstances, of some four thousand 
pounds to the acre. 

Pepper and vanilla are the products of two very 
different vines, the one native to the islands of the 
Malayan • Archipelago, the other to the forests of 
Central America, but both find a soil and climate 
adapted to their needs in the damp lowlands of the 
"West Indies. The climate must be hot and humid ; 
for the vanilla shelter and shade are desirable, and 



82 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

both yield very profitable crops. But one requires 
a special training in tropical horticulture to bring 
them to perfection, as well as skill and experience 
to cure and pack them properly. 

The same, in truth, may be said of all the plants 
that have been enumerated ; but the design of these 
chapters is more to call attention to what may be 
produced, rather than how to produce it, the au- 
thor not claiming to be an expert in tropical agri- 
culture. 

The native vegetables are the yam, eddoe, sweet 
potato, cassava, cucumber, pea, beans, carrot, egg- 
plant, tomato, corn (maize), ochra, yucca, pump- 
kins, arrow-root in the higher regions, potatoes, 
cabbages, etc. As a rule, northern vegetables do 
not thrive here, unless high up in the hills, and then 
should be raised from northern-grown seed. 

Some kinds of melons, including the sandia, or 
watermelon, may be raised here, and a few northern 
vegetables, but potatoes will not do well at a lesser 
altitude than at least two thousand feet above the 
sea. As for berries and the small fruits of the tem- 
perate zone, they are conspicuous mainly by their 
absence. The writer, however, has picked wild 
strawberries in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. 

Indian corn, or maize, is indigenous here, hav- 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. 83 

ing been found in use by all tbe aborigines, grow- 
ing everywhere, in all kinds of rich soil and at all 
altitudes; but other cereals, as wheat, oats, and bar- 
ley, will not grow here, all flour and breadstuffs 
being imported from the north. 

There is a variety of millet, known as Guinea 
corn, which, though a native of India, does re- 
markably well in the islands. The same may be 
said of rice, both the swamp and mountain variety, 
though the latter is the kind most in cultivation, 
and yields enormously. 

The food plants, so called, such as the yam, 
sweet potato, cassava, arrow-root, tanier, etc., yield 
abundantly and are the real friends of the agricul- 
turist with limited means. 

When the Indians were first seen by Europeans 
they had in their gardens a peculiar shrubby plant 
with knotty stems, the roots of which expanded 
into tubers, known as cassava. There are two 
kinds, the sweet and the bitter, the former being 
used freely as a vegetable for the table; the latter 
poisonous and necessitating special preparation to 
prepare it for the table, the poisonous principle be- 
ing dissipated only by heat. As enormous crops 
of the bitter cassava can be raised, it is a favourite 
plant for cultivation, for from it is obtained a fine 
quality of flour or meal — farine — also starch 



84 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tapioca, and cassareep, wMcli last named is tlie basis 
of the well-known West Indian " pepper pot." 

Arrow-root, now chiefly produced in the Ber- 
mudas and St. Vincent, both English islands, ought 
to flourish in Puerto Rico and Cuba as well; in 
fact, everywhere in a hill country with good soil 
and tropical or subtropical climate. As much de- 
pends upon the care used in the preparation of the 
starch, the returns per acre can not be estimated 
with accuracy, but in ordinary cases they are 
large. 

Another vegetable peculiar to the tropics is the 
tanier, or eddoe — the " taro " of the South Sea 
islands — which has tuberous rhizomes of large size, 
from which excellent starch is made, and which 
are very fine for the table, being considered among 
the " most valuable food plants of the West Indies." 

To recapitulate the chief products of Puerto 
Rico and their range of cultivation: Along the 
coast the cocoa palm, the banana, pineapple, all trop- 
ical fruits and vegetables. The sugar-cane, up to 
2,500 feet, under favourable conditions matures in 
from eleven to fourteen months and reproduces it- 
self during five to ten years thereafter. 

The cotton plant flourishes here also within the 
same belt, produces in from seven to nine months, 
and endures for three or four years. 



FRUITS, SPICES, CEREALS, FOOD PLANTS. 85 

The manioc, or cassava, likewise lives in this 
belt and is a very profitable plant for the cultivator. 

Maize — from the aboriginal Haitian name of 
which the Latin specific appellation is derived, mayz 
or mahiz — is found everywhere from the coast line 
to 3,000 feet above the sea, ripens its corn in from 
three to five months, and requires planting an- 
nually. 

Tobacco, which grows within the same area, also 
requires annual planting and matures within six 
months from the seed. 

Coffee and cacao grow anywhere above six hun- 
dred feet — the former best above one thousand to 
fifteen hundred feet — demand from three to five 
years for their first crops, and endure for forty 
years or more. 



VII. 
DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 

Bounteous J^ature certainly intended the West 
Indian islands to be well provided with all tropical 
products of the vegetable kingdom, for there are 
more than it will be possible to enumerate. Our 
pharmacopoeias, for instance, are deeply indebted to 
the American tropics for many of their " medica- 
ments," such as guaiacum, aloes, sarsaparilla, jalap, 
castor bean, etc., all of which flourish here. Then 
there are trees and shrubs valuable for their gums, 
such as the copal, the '^ mamey," and the great gum 
trees of the " high woods," the exudations from 
which are used as incense in some of the churches. 

Many plants, the bark, fruits, or wood of which 
are used in dyeing and tanning — as the indigo, tur- 
meric anatto, and the " divi-divi," or cwsalpinia — 
grow here practically in a wild state. 

To these may be added the cinchona and the 

coca, from the mountains of South America, and 

even tea from the hill countries of China. In the 

mountains of Jamaica large plantatipns of cin- 

86 



DYES, DRtJGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 8Y 

cliona may be seen at an elevation of from four to 
six thousand feet, which have been set out under the 
auspices of the Government in the hope of intro- 
ducing a new culture into the West Indies. It can 
not be said that it has been a great success, though 
the product of the cinchona, quinine, is in constant 
demand all over the world. The tree grows well 
in a rich forest soil, such as is found in all the 
mountainous islands, and anywhere above two thou- 
sand feet elevation. The first crop of bark is gath- 
ered after four years, when the trees are thinned 
out, but the main harvest occurs after the seventh 
year. As the root bark is richer in alkaloids than 
that of the trunk or branches, the trees are often 
grubbed up; but there are other methods, by 
which the tree is preserved, and at the same time 
the bark is gathered, such as by lopping off the 
branches and shaving off the outer bark in strips 
or ribbons. 

Another South American product which has 
been introduced into the West Indies with some 
success is coca (Erythroxylon coca), from the dried 
leaves of which is obtained the drug which has 
come into use as a tonic, and the alkaloid known as 
cocaine, which has the property of rendering the 
tissues of the body insensible to pain. It is a hardy 
shrub and will grow almost anywhere, can be prop- 



88 PUERTO RICO AKD ITS RESOURCES. 

agated from seedlings or cuttings, and will yield a 
harvest in eighteen months from the time of 
planting. 

There is no good reason why tea cnlture shonld 
not succeed in Puerto Rico, for the plant has taken 
very kindly to the West Indian climate, a small 
plantation having been set out some years ago in 
Jamaica, from which tea of excellent quality has 
been obtained. Full directions for its culture are 
issued by the Government, and doubtless could be 
had upon application, as well as for the cinchona 
and coca and other rare plants, the cultivation of 
which is yet in the experimental stage in the West 
Indies. 

Among the medicinal plants we must reckon 
the " palma chnsti," since from its seeds is obtained 
the well-known castor-oil; but though the oil has 
both an economic and medicinal value and the cul- 
tivation is the simplest, yet the plant itself is ranked 
as little more than a weed, growing wild in waste 
places and being perennial. 

The jalap, a beautiful climbing plant, native of 
Mexico, thrives well in the West Indies, doing best 
in the rich humus of mountain forests at an eleva- 
tion of from three to five thousand feet above the 
sea, where the mean temperature is about 60° to 
70°. Crops of tuber cules are gathered the third 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 89 

year after planting, and yield, when dried, about 
a thousand pounds to the acre. 

A somewhat similar plant is the sarsaparilla, a 
native of Central America, but cultivable in the 
islands, which will grow anywhere in the lowlands 
and is easy of culture. The crop may be harvested, 
the roots dug up, after two years and annually 
thereafter. According to the government botanist 
of Jamaica, the first crops there yield as high as 
twenty pounds of dried roots per plant. 

Of vegetable substances used in dyeing, none 
was better known in ancient times than indigo, by 
the cultivation of which many West Indian planters 
amassed immense fortunes; but, like the cochineal 
of Mexico, it has been mainly superseded by ani- 
line colours, and its culture, no longer profitable, 
has been abandoned, the plant running wild in 
many regions. 

A common but now neglected plant is the 
anatto — the Bixa orellana — which is in such repute 
with some farmers for colouring their butter, and 
which was used by the ancient Indians to colour 
their skins. The anatto shrub grows to the size 
of a quince tree, has heart-shaped leaves and rose- 
coloured flowers, followed by bristly pods, some- 
thing like chestnut burs, and which burst open 
when ripe, displaying a crimson pulp containing 



90 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

numerous seeds. This pulp is immersed in 
water for a few weeks, strained, then boiled to 
a paste and formed into cakes, which are dried 
in the sun. 

As the Caribs of the West Indies used the rou- 
cou, or anatto, to colour their skins, so the natives of 
the Polynesian islands are said to have used the 
turmeric (Curcuma long a) to heighten their com- 
plexion, only in the one instance the native painted 
himself red, and in the other yellow. The Orien- 
tals also use turmeric as a condiment, as an ingre- 
dient in the universally used curry powders, and 
as an aromatic tonic; but its use in the Americas 
is not yet prevalent. 

As to logwood, which was introduced into the 
West Indies early in the last century, a learned 
writer on tropical agriculture advocates the plant- 
ing of waste lands with it, as it will grow to com- 
mercial size in ten years. England imports it to 
the amount of nearly a million dollars annually, 
and in Jamaica it is so highly prized that the old 
roots are grubbed up that pertained to trees cut 
down many years ago. As an astringent in medicine 
and as a dye of commerce logwood is well known, 
being used also in compounding degraded clarets in 
France and her colonies. The tree is of low growth, 
rarely reaching forty feet in height, gnarled and 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 91 

twisted, and may be found near the coast as well as 
far in the interior. The heart-wood is deep red in 
colour and takes a high polish, and this portion is 
also that which contains the tincture, the light sap- 
wood being chipped off as valueless, and the valu- 
able portion sent to market in billets about three 
feet in length. Even the chips are valuable, and 
worth packing in bales for export. 

We send abroad annually two million dollars 
each for indigo and cabinet woods, which this 
island can to a certain extent supply for years to 
come, or rather after a wise system of replanting 
and reafforesting has been carried out; basing fu- 
ture estimates upon what it has produced in the 
past. 

For raw silk, our chief of the Government Bu- 
reau of Statistics says we send away twenty-five 
million dollars annually. In the sheltered valleys 
of ^uert o Rico^s mountains the mulberry finds a 
co ngenial home, the silkworm likewise, and neither 
winter snows nor high-priced labour will make silk 
cultoe difficult. It is not known that experiments 
have been conducted here, but in Cuba, where soil 
and climatic conditions are similar, the " mulberry 
grows to perfection, and the silkworms are more 
prolific and productive than in any other part of 
the world.'' 



92 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

There are many natural productions, some al- 
ready mentioned, whicli may well be classed as spon- 
taneous growths; the forests particularly contain 
trees which have been sought for centuries as most 
precious dye and cabinet woods, chief of which are 
the logwood, mahogany, fragrant cedar — such as 
the Cuban cigar boxes are made from — the laurel, 
boxwood, and walnut. Add to these the oak, lo- 
cust, gum tree, the palms (various species), the " to- 
bacco wood," lignum-vitse, the towering ceiha^ or 
silk-cotton, which spreads over an enormous surface 
and is a magnificent tree, and numerous species 
unknown in the north. 

In the island of Vieques are forests of these 
woods, and some remnants left on the mountains; 
and that some of them have been appreciated in 
times past, it is only necessary to repeat what deal- 
ers generally know, that the island mahogany of 
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo is held in 
higher esteem than that from Honduras, logs hav- 
ing been shipped worth five thousand dollars each 
landed in London. 

Most of the agricultural products are of the 
littoral lands, but the rare woods are found at 
higher levels. Ascend now toward the central 
ridge of mountains, or climb the bench of fertile 
land above Mayagliez on the west coast. All the 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 93 

way you are accompanied by the bamboos, whose 
feathery-foliaged lances, like great spears clashing 
in the wind, are now elements in the West Indian 
landscape which are purely tropical in character. 
The bamboos serve a variety of uses, and are espe- 
cially valuable in hut-building and in fencing, be- 
ing sometimes sixty feet in length, almost as 
strong as iron and smooth as glass. Even the 
palm hardly surpasses the bamboo in the variety 
of uses it is put to by the natives of the tropics, for 
besides serving to frame and thatch his hut, fur- 
nish mats, hats, fishing-poles, canes, poles for masts, 
even fibre for coarse sails, it also yields a tender 
terminal bud, like the palm, which when very 
young may be eaten like asparagus. But it is to 
the horticulturist that the bamboo is especially serv- 
iceable, for the long stems being hollow and the 
nodes, or knots from ten to fourteen inches apart, 
with a thin partition at every node, these joints 
are made use of as flower pots, for which they 
are well adapted. The pots thus made at no ex- 
pense are light, durable, and covered with a sili- 
cious. glaze that makes them impervious to water. 
They are used in the nurseries of the coffee planta- 
tions, and thus save much expense that would 
otherwise be necessary if earthen pots were used, 
being split open with a blow of the cutlass when 



94 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the plant is removed, or emptied of tlieir contents 
and thrown away. 

Another hill lover, which, like the bamboo, was 
originally introduced from foreign parts, is the 
bread-fruit {Artocarpus incisa), brought to the 
West Indies from the So uth S ea jslan ds little more 
than a century ago, but now abundant in the French 
and English islands. It is so abundant, in fact, 
as to have become the sugar-planters' bane, for the 
blacks will not work while the bread-fruit is ripe — 
and that is pretty much all the time — for its fruit is 
one of the most delightful and satisfactory foods 
that a hungry man could desire. Many is the time 
the writer has made a meal of half -wild bread-fruit 
gathered in the hills, roasted in the ashes of his 
camp-fire, and made palatable by sauce of hunger 
and salt of appetite. With its rugged trunk and 
deeply lobed leaves, the bread-fruit is an ornamen- 
tal as well as useful tree, and fits well into its en- 
vironment. 

Reaching an altitude greater than two thousand 
feet above the sea, we find that all extensive agricul- 
tural operations cease, and in the place of large plan- 
tations the primitive ^^ provision grounds," as they 
are called in the English islands, of the poor natives, 
where they grow small fruits and vegetables. But 
from this elevation on, we have with us and around 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 95 

US the glorious vegetation of the " high woods," 
where the beautiful tree-ferns wave their lacelike 
fronds, mountain palms thrust their domed heads 
through green masses of epiphytic plants, and gi- 
gantic gum trees tower aloft, wreathed and bound 
together by wonderful lianas, or water vines. 

The natural resources of Puerto Rico are by 
no means confined to the vegetable kingdom, for an- 
ciently mines of gold were worked by natives under 
Spanish overseers; copper, iron, zinc, and coal have 
been found here; quarries of excellent gypsum are 
still open in the eastern part of the island, and the 
littoral lands abound in salt mines. 

!N'ow that the last of Spain's possessions in Amer- 
ica has been wrested from her; now that all save 
the Spanish habitudes, language, and traditions are 
to be blotted from the western hemisphere, le avin g 
her no material holdings, she may well believe that 
Columbus was her evil genius, rather than her be- 
neficent saint and saviour. She has battled and 
toiled, poured out treasure and sweated away the 
very life blood of her people, for nearly four cen- 
turies past, yet what remains to her now? 

lN"othing, worse than nothing; for she has im- 
poverished her land that her colonies might thrive 
— a land itself rich in material resources, capable 



96 PUERTO EICO AND ITS EESOURCES. 

of supporting a vastly greater population tlian it 
does, yet covered with deserted estates, filled with 
beggars, and perishing with the dry rot of corrupt 
bureaucracy. 

When the first gold arrived in Spain, taken 
thither by Columbus — some of which may be seen 
to-day on the high altar of the Carthusian convent 
at Burgos — the rulers took it as an earnest of mil- 
lions to come. Millions more did come, but were 
spent by Isabella and Ferdinand, Charles I, and 
lastly by Philip II. Toward the end of the six- 
teenth century it ceased to flow into the coffers of 
Spain — that golden stream — but while it lasted that 
country revelled and rioted in extravagance, in- 
dulged in costly wars that convulsed all Europe and 
scattered broadcast what had been gathered at the 
expense of thousands of human lives. Meanwhile, 
the resources of the home country had been neg- 
lected, the people had become demoralized, and 
Spain became dependent upon her colonies for 
everything. When these were taken from her, one 
by one, she sank lower and lower, until now, it 
would seem, she could touch no greater depth of 
degradation. Yet it was a sailor in the employ of 
Spain who carried the first American gold to Eu- 
rope; a soldier of her army who discovered the 
largest nugget ever found in the ISTew World; and 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 97 

officers of the royal command who plundered the 
palaces of Montezuma and the Incas. 

The first glimpse of gold was obtained at San 
Salvador, in the Bahamas, and when the natives 
were asked whence it came they pointed to the 
south and west. So Columbus, when he later made 
the north coast of Cuba, was ever mindful of the 
gold region, and gave instructions to the captain 
of the expedition he sent into the interior to be sure 
to ascertain from the Grand Khan (whom he sup- 
posed to reside there) where it was located. But he 
discovered no gold in Cuba, other than a few pieces 
wrought into ornaments, and it was not until he 
and his caravels had arrived off the coast of Haiti, 
in the latter part of December, 1492, that he heard 
of a region rich in gold. 

He had been all along, and still was, sailing to- 
ward what he supposed was the country mentioned 
by the learned Marco Polo as the kingdom of the 
Grand Khan, and known as Cipango. And when, 
in the bay of Acul, on the north coast of Haiti, the 
hospitable cacique Guacanagari, one of the Indians 
of that section, made Columbus a present of a cot- 
ton girdle, attached to which was a mask, with ears, 
nose, and tongue of beaten gold, he felt sure he had 
reached at last the country of Cipango; for, when 
questioned as to the location of the region whence 



98 PUERTO mCO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

they got the gold, the natives pointed westward 
and uttered the magical word Cihao. It may have 
sounded like Cipango ; at all events, Columbus took 
it to be the same, and made all haste to reach it. 
He was, in fact, on his way to visit Chief Guacana- 
gari, who lived on the shore of Cape Haytien's great 
bay, when his flagship, the Santa Maria, ran on a 
reef and became a total wreck. The Indians saved 
all the wreckage possible, and the cacique took the 
Spaniards to his village and entertained them with 
dances and feasting, in order to divert their minds 
as much as possible from their great calamity. 

Thus the Spaniards passed their first American 
Christmas on shore; but in the afternoon Cacique 
Guacanagari made a visit of state to the little Nina, 
and while he was aboard, his simple subjects, dressed 
in the garb of nature, swarmed around the caravel 
in their dug-outs, holding up nuggets of gold, and 
crying out " Chug chug! " thus intimating that 
they wished to barter them for the hawk-bells 
which made the tinkling noise that ravished their 
unsophisticated ears. 

Seeing that the gold gave the sailors great joy 
in its possession, Guacanagari assured Columbus 
that if that was all he wanted he would guide him 
to a region where the very stones were of the pre- 
cious metal. At the same time he pointed west- 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 99 

ward, and told his host that the heart of the golden 
country was Cihao — by which name it is called to- 
day, and the subsequent finding there of gold to 
the amount of millions proves that Guacanagari 
was no liar. At the banquet which he gave to Co- 
lumbus on the following day he wore a golden 
coronet and nothing else, until the admiral present- 
ed him with a shirt and a pair of gloves. Guaca- 
nagari proved the truth of that old proverb about a 
crown being particularly burdensome when you 
want to rest, by " shucking " his coronet, after he 
had imbibed several draughts of fire-water, and his 
two sub-chiefs did the same; so that when Colum- 
bus wrote his sovereigns, several days later, that he 
fully expected the men he left there to collect a ton 
of gold during his absence, he had every reason to 
believe they would do so. 

Taking final leave of the gallant Guacanagari, 
the Spaniards sailed westward, and on the evening 
of the 4th of January, 1493, three hundred and 
fifty-five years before the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia, while filling their water casks at the mouth 
of a river, they noticed particles of gold adhering 
to the hoops of their casks. The sands also glittered 
with gold, some of which they collected, and Co- 
lumbus named the stream Rio del Oro, or River 
of Gold. It is known to-day as the Yaqui, and 



100 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the place where Columbus anchored is not far from 
Monte Christi, on the north coast of Santo Do- 
mingo. 

He did not stop then to explore the river val- 
ley, but continued on, finally arriving in Spain. 
He returned with a large fleet in ^November of the 
same year, found the garrison massacred he had left 
at Navidad, and the Indians dispersed. In Decem- 
ber he laid the foundation of the town of Isabella, 
on the north coast of Santo Domingo, selecting the 
site not because it was favourable or its harbour 
good, but because it lay nearest to Cibao, or the 
gold region. As soon as possible an expedition was 
sent over the mountains to the valley of the Yaqui, 
and the gold it brought back was sent to Spain by 
the returning fleet in 1494. 

They called the Yaqui the River of Gold, from 
the circumstance of finding gold there the year be- 
fore, and soon they proved it to be well named, for 
in the streams constituting its head waters they 
found, besides jasper and porphyry, flakes and 
grains of gold. 

The Spaniards found a great deal of gold in the 
river sands, as well as in pockets, but nearly all 
were mere surface indications, and they never even 
touched the real sources of the treasure. As in the 
Yukon and Klondike districts to-day, what was 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 101 

found was only tlie washings from the great gold 
sources in the heart of the hills and mountains. 
Humboldt himself declared that though the Span- 
iards obtained what seemed to them a vast treas- 
ure of gold, from the West Indies and Mexico, 
South America and the Spanish Main, and their 
great galleons went home laden with nuggets and 
dust from many places, yet the fountain-head was 
never tapped. He likened these surface accumula- 
tions to the scattered flakes of a snowstorm, and 
what remained to the vast snow fields banked against 
the mountain sides. 

The Cihao is in the region of pines, which 
indicates a high elevation, in an island so far south 
as Santo Domingo, and the air is sweet and pure. 
It is an ideal location for settlement or for mining, 
except that it is far away from all routes of travel, 
the nearest town to it being that of Santiago, on 
the banks of the Yaqui. The people here live most 
wretchedly, even though surrounded by a tropical 
exuberance of vegetation. They mainly depend 
upon the gold which they wash out of the streams 
for their daily needs, and they seem to have difii- 
culty in summoning strength enough even for 
that. And yet the writer saw one native of 
Santo Tomas with a handful of nuggets, the 
largest of which weighed five ounces, all obtained 



102 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

from the river sands by washing with a wooden 
dish. 

Such is the country in which the first gold was 
found in America four hundred years ago. The 
incidents attendant upon the finding of gold for the 
first time in Puerto Rico were similar to those in 
Santo Domingo; and, further, the same conditions 
prevail in both islands. The precious metal is 
found in the sands of rivers. It was very abundant 
in Ponce de Leon's time and still is found, but in 
lesser quantity. The mineral resources of Puerto 
Rico have not been fully exploited, if we may judge 
by the merely superficial investigations that have 
been made in the past four hundred years, for 
when De Leon arrived here, about 1509, many of 
the rivers poured down sands of gold; yet nobody 
has ascertained their source. 

The Historia de Puerto Rico says: " Signs of 
gold have been found in many districts of the isl- 
and, and auriferous sands in such rivers as the Lu- 
quillo, Sebuco, Daguao, Mayagiiez, Manaron, and 
many others. Traces of gold in the neighbourhood 
of San German, Yauco " (at the port of which, Gua- 
nica, our troops first landed in Puerto Rico), " and 
throughout all the territory of Coamo, in such quan- 
tities as presupposes a vast abundance in reserve, but 
mostly in the south and west.'' I^ow, this report 



DYES, DRUGS, WOODS, AND MINERALS. 103 

was made in the year 1788, or more than a hundred 
years ago, yet it holds good in substance to-day. 

Though there may not be any large area of 
Crown land thrown open to new-comers, and though 
much, if not most, of Puerto Rico's lands are taken 
up, yet there will be a chance for the prospector, 
and possibly great discoveries may be made. His 
only expense, if he pursue the primitive operations 
of the natives, will be a wooden pan, costing a few 
cents, and the food necessary for his subsistence 
while wading the tropical streams. 

At all events, if little gold rewards the adven- 
turer in Puerto Rico's mountains, he will not be 
subjected to the rigours of an arctic climate, nor 
have to endure the severities of a trip to the Klon- 
dike. He will be able to work all the year through, 
if so inclined; the worst of his foes being mostly 
avoidable, such as malarial fevers, poisonous insects, 
and torrential rains. 



yiii. 

NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 

The island of Puerto Rico can hardly be termed 
a paradise for sportsmen, for the largest native 
quadruped there is the agouti, a small animal of the 
size and habits of a hare, a vegetarian, and good 
^' eating " withal. He inhabits the rocky hillsides 
and borders of the woods, has a glossy brown coat 
of hair, and a sharp, sensitive nose, which he is con- 
stantly sticking up into the air and sniffing for 
danger; for he is a shy, timid little creature, whose 
life no one but a brute would take, unless hard 
pushed for food. 

Then there is the armadillo, with a shell on 
his back, into which he promptly retreats at the 
first sign of danger. His " meat '' is as tender as 
his horny covering is hard and impenetrable, and 
very delicious indeed when properly cooked and 
served in that same shell with the concomitant 
sauces and condiments. Sir Walter Raleigh, one 
of the first to mention this quaint animal, made its 

acquaintance at Trinidad, where, he says, " one 
104 



NATURAL HISTOHY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 105 

of the Indians gave me a beaste called by the Span- 
iards Armadilla, and which they call Cassacam, 
which seemeth to be all barred over with small 
plates, somewhat like unto a Rinocero^^ (rhinoceros), 
" with a white home growing in his hinder partes, 
as big as a great hunting home, which they use to 
winde " (blow) " instead of a trumpet. Monardus 
writeth that a little of the powder of that home, 
put into the eare, cureth deafness." 

In the English islands he is called by the ne- 
groes hag-in-ahmah (a hog in armour), and in 
the French tatouy, his generic Latin name being 
Tatusia; but by whatever name he is known he is 
most excellent for the table when " shucked '^ out 
of his shell and served aright. It is not an easy 
matter to catch him, though, as he can dig a hole 
in the ground almost as fast as a stout labourer 
can excavate with spade and pick, and sometimes 
" doubles " underground like a fox pursued by the 
hounds. 

Then there is the iguana, like a small-sized alli- 
gator, which, however, prefers to inhabit trees and 
bushes to dwelling in the water. It is savage in 
appearance but timid by nature, and will not fight 
unless cornered, when it will lash out terrifically 
with its tail and close its jaws like a vice upon what- 
ever gets in the way. Though hideous of aspect, 



106 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

there are many worse things for the camp cuisine 
than stewed iguana when one is dwelling in the 
woods, as the writer can testify, for the flesh looks 
like the meat of quail and tastes like chicken. 

In the forests and hills may be found the land 
crabs, than which there is nothing more delicious, 
except it be the camarones, or crayfish, fresh from 
the mountain streams, served on clean plantain 
leaves and with a dash of pepper and lime-juice. 
The crabs perform an annual migration between 
the mountains and the shore, and then may be cap- 
tured by hundreds. But one should be careful and 
not mistake for them the bloated crustaceans dwell- 
ing along shore and near settlements, as these latter 
are carrion feeders, subsisting on garbage and 
graveyards. Salt-water shellfish are abundant, the 
muscles good, and the oysters eatable, but, like all 
warm-water products of their class, insipid and 
" coppery." 

As for fish, some of the large streams yield 
good fresh-water varieties, and the coasts swarm 
with " shad," bonitos, bream, sardines, Spanish 
mackerel, snappers, dolphins, flying fish, sting rays, 
and sharks. 

As a naturalist has asserted that the surround- 
ing waters of Cuba possess some six hundred dis- 
tinct species, it is probable that there are as many 




Edible crabs on sale. 



NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 107 

in the waters bathing Puerto Rico's shores. To 
these we may add snch denizens of the deep gen- 
erally classed with fish as the manatee and whales. 
The former was at one time abundant on the 
coast of Florida, and in the time of Columbus 
was known as the veritable mermaid. The great 
navigator, in fact, gravely asserts, in his journal, 
that he saw several manatees off the coast of Haiti, 
but was disappointed that those mermaids were not 
as beautiful as they had been represented to be ! 

The best fishing grounds are said to be in the 
magnificent bay of Aguadilla, on the west coast, 
and the harbour of Arroyo, on the south. All these 
waters swarm with fish of gaudiest colours, rainbow- 
hued, and of strangest shapes ; but notwithstanding 
their abundance, the people of all the West Indian 
islands import great quantities of northern cod, 
dried and salted. With a shred of salt cod and a 
bit of bread-fruit, washed down with a drink of 
rum or cocoa water, the average Caribbean negro 
has " no use " for work, for his wants are satisfied. 

Of real game birds there are very few, except 
for such stray Guinea fowl as may have run wild, 
migrant pigeons, cordoniz, or quail — which are re- 
ally ground doves — parrots, seafowl, plover during 
the autumn migrations, snipe, duck, coots, galli- 
nules, doves, etc. But a Guinea bird run wild is no 



108 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

mean substitute for tlie genuine article, as it affords 
tlie finest sport in the world, being as swift of foot 
and as wary and alert as a fox, and as strong of wing 
as a grouse. Some of the best " sport " in the West 
Indies may be had on the little-known island of 
Barbuda, north of Antigua, where are wild Guinea 
fowl in enormous flocks, wild fallow deer, goats, and 
sheep, besides doves and pigeons without number. 
But the West Indies do not afford, in general, large 
game for the mighty hunter. There are some deer 
in Cuba, perhaps a few in Puerto Eico, also wild 
boars, wild turkeys (not native, but domestic fowl 
which have taken to the woods); in the islands of 
Tobago and Trinidad are herds of savage peccaries, 
which are the only dangerous four-footed animals 
in the archipelago. 

The best shooting is in the season when the 
spice trees ripen their fruit and the sea grapes and 
plums are plentiful. Then the hunter may take 
his stand beneath certain trees in the high woods 
or ramble through the thickets of sea grapes with a 
certainty of getting all he can carry of the fine 
white-headed pigeons, as large as a passenger pigeon 
and much plumper. The best time to hunt is in 
the winter season, usually, and the time of day very 
early in the morning or late in the afternoon. 

Even the song and plumage birds are not very 



NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 109 

plentiful, owing probably to the comparatively 
large areas of cleared lands and the recklessness of 
native gunners in destroying these innocent inhab- 
itants of the woods and gardens. There are mock- 
ing-birds, with sweet song and vivacious air, trou- 
pials, wild canaries, sugar birds, several varieties of 
thrushes, owls, hawks, etc. — altogether perhaps one 
hundred and fifty species of birds are found in the 
island. Few in species, but many in number, are 
those gems of the air, the humming birds, which 
will enliven your flower garden — if you have one — 
all the year. And incidentally, without descending 
to particulars, it may be said that flowers bloom here 
in every month of the year, their variety only lim- 
ited by the number of species in the tropical flora, 
which is vast and varied. 

There are no wild animals, then, large enough 
to cause alarm ; there are no poisonous serpents, and 
the boa found in the island does not exceed a dozen 
feet in length, and is looked upon with more of 
favour than aversion, because of its rat-killing pro- 
pensities. Anent the snakes of the "West Indies, the 
old historian, Bryan Edwards, says quaintly: "If 
it be true, as it hath been asserted, that in most 
of the region of the torrid zone the heat of the sun 
is, as it were, reflected in the untamable fierceness 
of- their wild beasts and in the exalted rage and 



110 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

venom of the numeroiTS serpents with which they 
are infested, the Sovereign Disposer of all things 
hath regarded the islands of the West Indies with 
peculiar favour, inasmuch as their serpents are 
wholly destitute of poison, and they possess no ani- 
mal of prey to desolate their vallies." Another fa- 
mous historian is said to have disposed of a similar 
subject, when writing the history of another coun- 
try, by merely remarking, '^ There are no snakes 
in Ireland! " 

Still, there are poisonous snakes in the West 
Indies, though there may be none in Puerto Rico. 
Even at the time Mr. Edwards was writing his ex- 
cellent history of the islands, which was exactly one 
hundred years ago, there existed, in at least two 
islands of the archipelago, the most poisonous ser- 
pent known to the western hemisphere — the ter- 
rible fer-de-lance, so abundant and so deadly in 
the islands of Martinique and St. Lucia. It may 
have been brought from the Spanish Main, either 
by the invading Caribs, centuries ago, or may have 
drifted hither on floating vegetation torn from the 
tropical forests and borne northward by the Ori- 
noco current — but there it is. A peculiar problem 
in the study of animal distribution which has ap- 
parently been neglected by naturalists is, how these 
two islands became infested with this venomous ser- 



NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. HI 

pent, while other isles immediately adjacent, as Do- 
minica to the north and St. Vincent to the south, 
are entirely free from them. The writer has 
hunted over all the islands of the Caribbees, but 
has never found a fer-de-lance outside the limits 
of Martinique and St. Lucia. It is even related 
that when the Caribs were at war with the whites, 
about a hundred years ago, they sought to introduce 
this serpent into Dominica, but without perceptible 
results, though the channel separating it from Mar- 
tinique is but thirty miles in width. 

In Trinidad and Tobago there are poisonous 
snakes, notably in the former; but these islands be- 
long to the continental system of South America, 
as shown by their flora as well as their fauna. 

As we have noticed some of the potential bless- 
ings which go to make of Puerto Rico an earthly 
paradise, it would be unfair to ignore the dangers 
which may be attendant upon the life of a dweller 
therein. One of the greatest evils of a tropical cli- 
mate — consequent upon that continuous heat and 
moisture which bring forth and sustain an exuber- 
ant vegetation — is the abundance of insect pests. 
It is believed that Puerto Rico is as exempt as any 
country within the tropics, but that is speaking only 
relatively. The writer has passed many months in 
the tropical forests, hunting by day and sleeping 



112 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

by night beneath the palms and tree ferns, either 
without shelter or in a hastily-constructed ajoupa, 
or forest hut of plantain leaves; he has lived in the 
West Indies, summer and winter, several years, yet 
can say that he was never stung or bitten by any- 
thing more dangerous than an ant or a hornet. 
And this also was the experience of a veteran nat- 
uralist, the late Dr. Gundlach, of Havana, who 
spent sixty years in exploring the forests of Cuba, 
Puerto Eico, and other islands in the Caribbean. 
But that we came very near to danger many, many 
times, neither of us could deny, and it was more 
by good luck than anything else, perhaps, that we 
escaped. 

Most to be avoided and dreaded are scorpions, 
tarantulas, centipeds, wasps, mosquitoes, black and 
red ants, wood-ticks, fleas, and chigoes. This last, 
generally called " a jigger,'^ is also a flea, but not the 
^' hop-skip-and-jump " variety, being known in 
Latin as the Pulex 'penetrans, sustaining about the 
same relation to the first as the Digger Indian to 
the Sioux or Apache. It penetrates the skin — pref- 
erably of the toes — and there lays a mass of eggs 
and snugly ensconces itself, or herself; and if eggs 
and jigger are not promptly ejected, trouble soon 
results, neglected cases having resulted in the loss 
of the toe, or even foot and leg. So long, how- 



NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 113 

ever, as one bears in mind not to walk barefoot 
over damp floors or rotting wood, and if a tickling 
sensation is felt in the toe, to investigate at once, 
tbis insect may not be regarded as a terror. 

The habits of the others are too well known 
to need repetition here, but it should be partic- 
ularly remembered that the tropical scorpions are 
extremely venomous, the tarantulas aggressive, and 
the centipeds remarkably rapid in their movements. 
The writer can recall many encounters with these 
insect foes, as, for instance, once, in the botanical 
garden of Martinique, he poked a tarantula with a 
cane — a long cane, fortunately — and the ferocious 
spider sprang at his hand, barely missing it. At 
another time, when camped in the woods, he brushed 
a scorpion from his blanket; in Haiti one morning, 
on picking up an article of dress, a big centiped ran 
between his fingers; again, in Dominica, seeing a 
very large centiped, all of six inches in length, 
running up the wall of a hut, he tried to 
" mash " it with a slipper, when the thing actually 
disappeared, apparently without any visible means 
of escape. 

Still, the little white, black, and yellow chil- 
dren run about naked until — well, until they can 
" look over a barrel," as the saying is in the West 
Indies, and they never seem afraid of insect foes; 



114 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

at all events, are as healthy and happy as children 
anywhere else in the world. 

One of their bugaboos, however, says a Spanish 
author, is the fierce, wild dog locally known as the 
perro monies, or cimarron, which is said to abound 
in the woods, whence it emerges in bands of half 
a dozen or more and preys upon sheep, pigs, and 
calves. It has never been known to attack man, 
but might, when pressed by hunger, prove danger- 
ous to children. 

While on the subject of things to be avoided 
it may be well to take cognizance of the prevalent 
diseases of the island. There are fevers, to be sure, 
but more a resultant of local causes than from the 
hot and humid atmosphere. Few of the coast towns 
are afflicted with yellow fever, which is almost un- 
known in the interior, and endemic in San Juan, 
the capital, only because the most ordinary rules 
of sanitation have been notoriously neglected. An 
officer of the United States army, returned from 
Puerto Rico, declared in an interview that, '^ while 
the island is a paradise at certain seasons of the year, 
the climate is almost entirely devoid of recuperating 
properties during the months in which the tropical 
fevers prevail, which are embraced in the rainy 
season. But worse than this is the total disregard 



NATURAL HISTORY, GAME, INSECT PESTS. 115 

of the natives for health-giving sanitary conditions. 
In the close back yards of the residences and even 
of the best hotels of Ponce, the second city in size, 
may be seen piles of rubbish and filth lying within 
a few feet of the cisterns from which the water sup- 
ply is obtained." 

Cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea, are possible, 
probable — the first-named disease carrying off 
thirty thousand people in 1855 — and are mostly 
consequent upon eating unripe fruit, drinking bad 
water, or the violation of ordinary hygienic rules. 
But as for boiling all water before drinking (as was 
advised by the sanitarians of our army in Cuba), 
keeping out of the sun, and never walking or riding 
at mid-day, etc. — these precautions are not neces- 
sary; at least the residents do not think they are, 
and many of them live to a green old age. But it 
is unsafe to expose yourself to rains, without oppor- 
tunity for quickly changing, at least, the under 
garments, to wet the feet without soon after putting 
on dry stockings, or to eat or drink to excess. 



IX. 

SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 

In the forefront of the island's history stand 
the names of Columbus, who discovered it in 1493, 
and of Ponce de Leon, who founded the first city 
about seventeen years later. The latter was gov- 
ernor of the eastern province of Santo Domingo 
during the viceroyalty of Don Diego Columbus, 
and when reports were brought him of the great 
fertility and mineral wealth of Borinquen — as the 
aborigines called the island — Ponce went over to 
investigate. He landed on the west coast, and 
there met the cacique, or chieftain, Agueynaba, 
who showed him such rich valleys and so many 
streams rippling over the golden sands, that the 
Spaniard lost no time in bringing over a strong 
force of soldiers and establishing himself in this 
new and promising country. 

The town he founded was called Caparra, now 

known as Pueblo Vie jo, not far distant, across the 

bay, from the capital city, San Juan, for the site 

of which it was soon after abandoned. San Juan, 

116 



SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 117 

the city which owes its origin to the enterprise of 
Ponce de Leon, occupies the western end of a small 
island on the north coast, about two miles and a 
half in length and half a mile in breadth. It is 
connected with the mainland by two bridges and 
a causeway defended by small forts; and, lying 
between its fine harbour and a chain of lagoons 
on one side, with the Atlantic on the other, its posi- 
tion, from a military point of view, is almost im- 
pregnable. 

The natural advantages for defence were early 
seized upon, and the northwest end of the islet, 
which is bluif, even precipitous, is crowned by 
the famed Morro Castle, the initial fortification, 
which was completed in the year 1584. In gen- 
eral shape this old " castle " is an obtuse angle, 
with three tiers of batteries facing the sea, placed 
one above the other so that their fires will cross. 
The Morro is the citadel and is a small military 
town in itself, with barracks, chapel, bakehouse, 
immense water tanks, warehouses, officers' quar- 
ters, bombproofs, and dungeons by the sea. As 
in Havana, the faro, or light-tower, stands here, 
crowned with a first-class lantern and rising to a 
height of one hundred and seventy feet above sea 
level. 

This ancient citadel is the beginning of the 
9 



118 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

wall whicli surrounds the city, completely inclos- 
ing it within a line of connected bastions, with 
moats, guarded gates, battlements, fortalezas, semi- 
bastions, projecting sentry turrets — in fact, all 
the defences of a walled town or city of the 
middle ages. On the Atlantic shore, which is 
steep and against which the heavy surges roll con- 
tinuously, a wall of modern construction connects 
the Morro with the castle of San Cristobal, which 
faces oceanward and also guards the approaches 
from the mainland. This castle is entered by a 
ramp on the highest part of the hill, to the ine- 
qualities of which the fortification is accommodated. 
It can concentrate its fire in any direction, as it 
controls the city and inner harbour by the Ca- 
ballero Fort with its twenty-two large guns. 
Stretching from harbour to sea front, San Cristo- 
bal dominates the inland approaches and has prac- 
tically three tiers of batteries behind fortifications 
in great part cut out of the solid rock. 

Though the fortifications as we find them now 
were planned in 1630 and nearly completed by 
1641, yet SaH Cristobal in its entirety was not fin- 
ished until just before the outbreak of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, or about 1771. Still, with its out- 
works, consisting of a redan resting on the highest 
part of the glacis and called Fort Abanico, on ac- 



SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 119 

count of its fan shape, its moats, and modern bat- 
teries, San Cristobal would have been a hard fort 
to storm and take bad our soldiers been compelled 
to attack it. 

Beginning at the southern projection of San 
Cristobal and following the sinuosities of the bay 
shore-line, we find a front of bastions, commencing 
with those of San Pedro and Santiago, the curtain 
being pierced by the Espana gate; then comes the 
bulwark of San Justo and the gate which forms 
an arch under the curtain, succeeded by the semi- 
bastion of the same name, the bastion of La Palma, 
the platform of Conception, to the semi-bastion 
and fortaleza of Santa Catalina, built about 1640, 
which supports the residence of the captain-general. 
Between the fortaleza and the semi-bastion of San 
Augustine, running northwest, we note the gate 
of San Juan, and then follows the platform of 
Santa Elena. The San Juan gate gives access to 
the glacis of San Felipe del Morro, between the 
captain-general's palace and the citadel. 

These details will give one an idea of the com- 
pleteness of this line of circumvallation ; but in 
addition to the great stone walls, some of them 
nearly a hundred feet high, which inclose the city, 
there are the outlying forts of San Antonio and 
San Geronimo, which defend the bridges inland; 



120 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

and on an islet off tlie harbour mouth is the small 
but strong fort of Canuelo, between which and 
the Morro, less than a thousand yards distant, all 
large ships must pass to make this port. A chain 
was formerly stretched between the Morro and 
Canuelos in war time, but during the recent 
war, and after the bombardment of San Juan 
by our fleet (which occurred May 12, 1898), a ves- 
sel was sunk there and the harbour mined. This 
wreck was found to effectually block the harbour 
by the United States cruiser J^ew Orleans, which 
arrived at San Juan about the middle of August, 
1898, soon after the protocol of peace was signed. 

The intramural city is one of the oldest and 
quaintest in the 'New World, having been founded 
within a decade of the city of Santo Domingo, 
antedating Havana by six or seven years, St. Au- 
gustine by more than fifty years, and being con- 
temporary with Baracoa and Santiago de Cuba. 
It is regularly laid out in squares, with six streets 
running parallel with its longer axis, and seven 
others crossing them at right angles, while two 
plazas and several smaller squares, called plazuelas, 
offer places for promenade and recreation. 

Probably the largest structure within the walls 
is the Ballaja barracks, overlooking the parade 
grounds and covering, with its patiOy a sj)ace of 



SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 121 

77,700 square metres. The palace of the captain- 
general is an imposing edifice, and the ^' Casa Blan- 
ca/' or ancient castle of the founder, Ponce de Leon, 
the oldest as well as most attractive, with its walled 
garden and surrounding palms, in the capital. 
Other important buildings are the city hall, the 
archiepiscopal palace, the theatre, the Jesuit college, 
military hospital, the church of Santo Domingo, the 
cathedral, with its spacious naves and altar of fine 
marbles, and the church of La Providencia, where 
may be seen Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, the 
special patroness of the island, with her fifteen-hun- 
dred-dollar cloak and her twenty-thousand-dollar 
collection of jewels. 

There are private clubs and casinos, a spacious 
market place, and last, but by no means least, a 
cemetery, just under the northern wall, with a sen- 
try turret jutting over the gate, which gives en- 
trance through the glacis of the Morro. In this 
cemetery may be observed the peculiar methods of 
inhumation, by which the wealthy are placed in 
the stone cells of a vast '' columbarium," against 
the wall of the fort, and the poorer classes merely 
buried in rented graves, from which they are 
ejected at the expiry of a short term of years. 

The efiluvia from this (practically intramural) 
cemetery, together with the emanations from the 



122 PUERTO RTCO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

sinks and sewage, the filthy streets, and crowded 
dwellings, have hitherto made of San Juan what 
nature never intended it should be, with its ele- 
vated situation and its soil impervious to water, 
pure or foul — a possible plague centre for the 
breeding of tropical diseases. It is the only city 
in the island where yellow fever is said to have 
been endemic; but with the constantly blowing 
trade winds, which sweep across it from the ocean, 
and the swift sea current flowing through the har- 
bour, there is no excuse whatever for these local 
conditions so favourable to contagious diseases. 

The urban population is estimated at about 
twenty thousand, probably one half being negroes 
and people of mixed bloods. These are domiciled 
in about one thousand houses, not more than one 
half of which are over two stories in height, plainly 
but massively constructed of mamposteria, or stone 
and mortar, with flat roofs, jutting balconies, some 
with miradores, or open cupolas, and generally 
surrounding a patio, or inner court, where often a 
fountain and plat of flowers makes an attractive 
spot for the gathering of the family during hours of 
recreation. The architecture, in fact, is essentially 
Spanish, or Hispano-Moriscan, like that of Anda- 
lusia. The streets are narrow, the sidewalks, when 
they exist, relatively narrower, scarcely wide 




o 

S 
c 



o 



SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 123 

enough for two persons to walk abreast, resembling 
miicli tbose of Obispo Street in Havana and some of 
the alleyways of Seville. 

The supply of water is scanty, being derived 
mainly from the clouds and stored in cisterns, 
which, by the way, are for the most part in a 
state of neglect and very foul. When the city 
shall have become an American winter resort it is 
to be hoped that its system of sewage and sanitation 
will include the introduction of water from the 
hills not far away, where the supply is unlimited 
and of the purest quality. 

Outside the Vv^alls are several suburbs, the two 
principal being known as the Marina and Puerta 
de Tierra, with perhaps seven thousand inhabitants 
between them, the total population pertaining to 
San Juan rising twenty-seven thousand. The Ma- 
rina lies right up against the walls, with an over- 
flow of garden and park filled with choice trees, 
shrubs, and flowers, dotted with kiosks and drink- 
ing booths, and with a broad avenue running out 
toward the mainland. Here are the wharves, also 
the custom house and many warehouses, while the 
most important building — not from its imposing 
architecture, but owing to the " functions " oc- 
curring there at stated intervals — is the cockpit, 
a ramshackle structure of stone and corrugated iron. 



124 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

It is an easy descent from the city proper to tlie 
Marina, and every afternoon tlie walks and booths 
are occupied by pleasure-seeking people. 

On the only road leading out to the mainland is 
the rambling hamlet of San Turce, and across the 
bay, reached by a local ferry, is Cataiio, a village of 
little importance, but which affords a fine view of 
the capital. 

Within the walls there are two small hotels, 
which, from the writer's experience, are rather to 
be shunned than sought, while boarding houses are 
altogether unknown. The first requisite for the 
American traveller, a good hotel, is yet to be built, 
while the stores and shops, though some of them 
contain good stocks of European goods, are wholly 
inadequate to the needs of a modern city. There 
are several good newspapers, published in Spanish, 
daily and weekly, but few manufactures here, 
nearly everything being imported. There are arti- 
ficial-ice, gas, and electric-light works, and across 
the bay an establishment for the refining of crude 
petroleum, which is brought from the United 
States. 

During perhaps eight months of the year San 
Juan affords an agreeable place of residence, the 
climate being mild and endurable; yet, owing to 
the changes from heat to cold at times, the preva- 



SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL. 125 

lent diseases among tlie natives, it is said, are con- 
sumption, bronchitis, and catarrh. These, how- 
ever, may be owing more to thoughtless exposure 
than to the inherent evils of the climate. 

San Juan has honoured its founder, Juan Ponce 
de Leon, with a statue which stands in the centre 
of the Plaza Santiago. It was cast from cannon 
captured from the English in 1797, and is of the 
natural size, representing the great conquistador 
on foot, encouraging his soldiers to a charge. His 
remains are preserved in a leaden box, in the church 
of Santo Domingo, and the following is his epitaph: 

Agueste lugar estrecho 
es sepulcro del varbn 
que en el nombre fue Leon 
y mucho mas en el hecho. 

The most ancient inscription reads: 

AQUI YACE EL MUY ILUSTRE 

SENOR JUAN PONCE DE LEON, 

primer Adelantado de la Florida, primer Conquistador y 
Gobernador de esta Isla de Sau Juan. 



X. 

CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. 

San Juan is a port-of-call for tlie Spanish 
steamers between Cadiz and Cuba, and also for tbe 
intercolonial boats among the islands formerly per- 
taining to Spain, while an American line makes 
direct connection between this port and ISTew York, 
touching as well at all important harbours on the 
coasts. 

There is a life-saving and signal station at the 
Morro, and two submarine cables connect the island 
with the outside world — one via St. Thomas and 
the other through Kingston, Jamaica. 

The insular system of telegraph lines aggre- 
gates ^Ye hundred miles and connects all impor- 
tant points, while a telephone service is in process 
of " installation," or will be in operation by the 
time these data are in print. 

A railroad was long since projected to connect 

all centres of population, the following portions 

having been completed : From San Juan^ along the 

coast through Rio Piedras ; Bayamon, Dorado, Are- 

126 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. 127 

cibo, and Hatillo, to Camuy; Agiiadilla, through 
Aguado, Rincon, Anasco, and Mayagiiez, to Hor- 
migueros. A branch of this railroad from Anasco, 
through San Sebastian, to Lares. Ponce, through 
Guajanilla, to Yauco. This latter railroad follows 
the southern coast line and is paralleled by a wagon 
road throughout its course. In one place the rail- 
road and road run within a few hundred yards of 
the coast. According to the Statesman's Year- 
book for 1898 there are in operation 137 miles of 
railroad, besides over 170 miles under construction. 

1. San Juan to Rio Piedras, 11 kilometres, and 
to Carolina, 12 kilometres. Purchased by Ameri- 
can capitalists and to be run by electricity. 

2. San Juan to Bayamon, 14 kilometres; to 
Toa Baja, 15; to Dorado, 4; Yega Baja, 18; Man- 
ati, 12; Barceloneta, 17; to Arecibo, 8; to Ha- 
tillo, 10; to Camuey, 2. Total, 100 kilometres. 

3. Line from Aguadillo to Hormiguero, 58 
kilometres, as follows: Aguadillo to Aguada, 6; 
Rincon, 8; Anasco, 16; Mayagliez, 15; to Hormi- 
guero, 13 kilometres. 

Line from Yauco to Ponce, 35 kilometres: 
Yauco to Guayanillo, 12; to Tallaboa, 8; to 
Ponce, 15. 

137,422 passengers travelled on these lines dur- 
ing 1896, about 16.5 per cent more than in 1895. 

The gross receipts increased by $18,262 over 
those in 1895, and amounted to $251,191. 



128 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The scenery around San Juan, as well as of the 
entire island, is picturesque in the extreme, and 
even the casual visitor should not fail to visit the 
suburban hamlet of Cangrejos, where the wealthy 
merchants and foreign consuls reside; Rio Piedras, 
a pretty village a little way inland; Catano, across 
the bay; and Bayamon, farther up the hills. If 
possible, take the diligencia over the magnificent 
highway between San Juan and Ponce, seventy 
miles or so, which climbs the slopes, winds through 
gorges and over mountains, across vast sugar es- 
tates, and past purling streams, with bits of trop- 
ical scenery that are worth going far to see, and 
glimpses of life and people peculiar to this moun- 
tainous island in the tropic seas. 

The principal centres of population are along 
the coast, and to show that this island is by no 
means destitute of towns and cities, the chief of 
them will be enumerated. Due west from San 
Juan, on a river of the same name, lies Arecibo, 
about thirty-five miles in a direct line from the capi- 
tal, and fifty by rail. It contains about six thousand 
inhabitants, and the district within its jurisdiction 
some thirty thousand; a well-built town, with a 
fine church and public buildings, a plaza, with 
streets running from it forming regular squares, 
a theatre, jail, and spacious barracks for the troops. 




A tieiida, or small shop. 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. 129 

Connected by rail with San Juan, and with tele- 
graph and post office it may, in spite of its poor har- 
bour, become an important city in the near future, 
for it lies at the entrance of a river, shallow but 
picturesque, and at the mouth of a valley famed 
for its natural beauties. 

The environs are extremely picturesque, and 
have a peculiar feature which renders them worthy 
of a visit. About seven miles and a half southeast 
of the town, in the place called El Concejo, there is 
a rock over 300 feet high, cut off vertically. About 
one third the way up from the bottom is the en- 
trance to a grotto, covered with brambles and about 
five feet high by nine feet wide. It has a number 
of caverns and arches, stalactites, and wonderful 
curiosities, etc., peculiar to caves generally. 

The whole valley of the Arecibo is picturesque. 
Descending from the mountain of Utuado the en- 
tire course of the river presents itself to the view. 
On either side of its voluminous course are a num- 
ber of streams forming beautiful cascades, and 
while delighting the traveller they also serve to irri- 
gate the intermediate valleys which extend to the 
river. The latter becomes obstructed at the far- 
ther end and grows sluggish, its waters during 
freshets overflowing both banks and fertilizing the 
land for pastures, which are always covered with 
cattle, mules, and horses, the best on the island. In 
the centre of these meadows are seen the homes of 
the landowners, surrounded by leafy bananas, tall 



130 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

palms, and some sugar, coffee, and cotton planta- 
tions. The limits of each proprietor are marked 
by barriers of orange, lemon, and other trees which 
the fertile land produces in exquisite variety, the 
result being the most delightful and charming 
country imaginable. 

Swinging around to a point on the northwest 
coast there opens up the magnificent bay of Agua- 
dilla, capable of floating a navy, the town of the 
same name being the most picturesque of any in 
the island. It lies at the base of a very steep moun- 
tain covered with lemon and orange trees, palms, 
etc., and from a near-by ravine gushes out a spring 
of pure water of immense volume, which flows 
through the town to the sea. An antique church 
and an old fort add to the picturesqueness of the 
scene. It has about five thousand inhabitants, and 
five miles farther to the south, near the same large 
bay, is the town of Aguada, on the site where, tra- 
dition relates, Columbus first touched for water in 
1493, and was so impressed with the beauty of the 
scene that he called it the ^^ Rich Port," and the 
island " San Juan de Puerto Rico," or the Island 
of the Rich or Beautiful Port. 

Due south lies the city of Mayagiiez, with 
eleven thousand inhabitants, but twenty-eight thou- 
sand within its jurisdiction, the third city in im- 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. 131 

portance of the island, and one that exports vast 
quantities of sugar and coffee, pineapples and cocoa- 
nuts, and imports flour, etc., from the United 
States. It is the second port for coffee, its aver- 
age annual export being about seventeen million 
pounds. The temperature is said rarely to exceed 
90°, and the mountains are not far away, where 
the cool breezes always blow and from which pour 
down several rivers, notably the Mayaguez, from 
which in olden times much gold was obtained. A 
tramway connects this city with Aguadilla and 
other towns ; it has no less than thirty-seven streets, 
three plazas, many modern handsome houses, foun- 
tains, and bridges. Its vega, or plain, is very fer- 
tile, and, like the valley of Arecibo, is dotted with 
planters' houses and the homes of the fruit-growers. 

The market is the best on the island. It is 
constructed of iron and stone, covers an area of 
over fifteen hundred square yards, and cost seventy 
thousand pesos. About seven miles from Maya- 
gliez, across a rough and mountainous country, is 
the sanctuary of Montserrate. This wild-looking 
place is visited by many who go there as pilgrims, 
and many legends are told concerning it. 

The church is on top of a mountain. It is of 
masonry, quite capacious, and of agreeable aspect. 
From here is seen the most fertile and beautiful 
plain on the island, watered by the Juanajibos and 



132 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Boqueron rivers, and inclosed by high mountain 
ridges, which send forth multitudinous streams, the 
plain being bounded by the sea and having in it 
the towns of Cabo Rojo and San German. 

Southeast of this town, and sixteen miles from 
San German, lies Yauco, one hundred and fifty feet 
above the sea, with a fine climate and good running 
water, under a range of high hills. It is connected 
by cart road with the port of Guanica, where there 
is a playa, or shore settlement of about one thou- 
sand people. This port was the initial point in 
the strategic plans of General Miles in his recent 
military occupation of Puerto Rico. As it has a 
^' steep-to " shore, with a great depth of water, and 
there were no mines or fortifications, it was, of all 
the island ports, best suited for the purpose. 

East of Yauco and connected with it by rail 
lies the city of Ponce, on the way to which is the 
town of Guayanilla, with six hundred inhabitants, 
situated near a seaport of the same name. Ponce, 
the chief city of the southern coast, the first in 
population, and second only to San Juan in com- 
mercial importance, was founded about 1600, and 
lies three miles from its play a, at the port, the spa- 
cious harbour of which will admit vessels of twenty- 
five feet draught. It became an American city, by 
surrender to General Miles, July 28, 1898. 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. I33 

The writer first visited Ponce in 1880, and then 
thought it the handsomest city of Puerto Rico, as 
it is doubtless the best equipped with hotels and 
comforts for the traveller. The latest statistics 
say of it: 

A city of twenty-two thousand inhabitants, 
with a jurisdiction numbering forty-seven thou- 
sand. It is situated on the south coast of the island, 
on a plain, about two miles from the seaboard. It 
is the chief town of the judicial district of its name, 
and .is seventy miles from San Juan. It is regu- 
larly built, the central part almost exclusively of 
brick houses and the suburbs of wood. It is the 
residence of the military commander, and the seat 
of an official chamber of commerce. There is an 
appellate criminal court, besides other courts; two 
churches, one Protestant, the only one in the island ; 
two hospitals, besides the military hospital, a home 
of refuge for old and poor, two cemeteries, three 
asylums, several casinos, three theatres, a market, 
a municipal public library, three first-class hotels, 
three barracks, a park, gas works, a perfectly 
equipped fire department, a bank, thermal and nat- 
ural baths, etc. A fine road leads to the port 
(Play a), where all the import and export trade is 
transacted. Playa has about ^Ye thousand inhab- 
itants, and here are situated the custom house, the 
office of the captain of the port, and all the consular 
offices. The climate, on account of the sea breezes 
during the day and land breezes at night, is not 
10 



134 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

oppressive, but very liot and dry; and as water 
for all purposes, including tlie fire department, is 
amply supplied by an aqueduct 4,442 yards long, it 
is said tbat tbe city of Ponce is perhaps one of tbe 
bealtbiest places in the island. There is a stage- 
road to San Juan, Mayagiiez, Guayama, etc. ; a rail- 
road to Yauco, a post office, and a telegraph station. 

It is believed that Ponce was founded in 
1600; it was given the title of villa in 1848, and 
in 1877 that of city. Of its thirty-four streets, the 
best are Mayor, Salud, Yilla, Yives, Marina, and 
Comercio. The best squares are Principal and Las 
Delicias, which are separated by the church of 
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. The church, as old 
as the town itself, was reconstructed between 1838 
and 1847. It is eighty-six yards long by forty- 
three broad, and has two steeples, rich altars, and 
fine ornaments. 

The Protestant church is of Gothic architec- 
ture, of galvanized iron outside and wood within, 
and was built in 1874. 

The town hall, which also serves as a jail, is 
a good two-story building of masonry, and was fin- 
ished in 1877. There are two barracks, one for 
infantry, with a capacity for seven hundred men, 
and another for cavalry. The former was con- 
structed in 1849 and is two stories high, while the 
latter is a one-story structure belonging to the mu- 
nicipal council. The military hospital, of masonry, 
is situated on Castillo Street, and has a capacity for 
seventy patients. 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. 135 

The smallpox and pestilential hospitals are 
more simple and are situated outside the city limits. 

The Albergue de Tricoche (hospital) was built 
with money left by Valentin Tricoche for this pur- 
pose, in 1863. It is in the northern part of the 
town, is built of masonry on the Doric order, with 
a porch supported by massive columns. It has a 
capacity for sixty persons. 

The Damas Asylum is built of masonry, with 
an elegant porch, iron gate, and garden at its en- 
trance. It is maintained by money left by various 
persons and by other charitable means, and will 
accommodate twelve men and twelve women, hav- 
ing besides four beds designed for sick seamen. 

The theatre is called the Pearl, and it de- 
serves this name, for it is the finest on the island. 
It has a sculptured porch, on the Byzantine order, 
with graceful columns. It is mostly built of iron 
and marble, and cost over seventy thousand pesos. 
It is fifty-two yards deep by twenty-nine wide. The 
inside is beautiful, the boxes and seats roomy, and 
nicely decorated. It may be, by a mechanical ar- 
rangement, converted into a dancing hall. 

About a mile and an eighth northeast of the 
town are the Quintana thermal baths, in a building 
surrounded by pretty gardens. They are visited 
by sufferers from rheumatism and various other 



There are three fairly good hotels in Ponce, 
the Frangais, the Inglaterra, and the Espaiiol, 



136 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the first named being considered the best, as is 
consistent with the traditions of its nationality. 
The plaza is a pleasant gathering place, where, dur- 
ing Spanish occupation, a fine military band played 
between the hours of seven and nine at night, and 
the beauty and chivalry of the city assembled to 
enjoy themselves. 

The next coast town of importance lies about 
fifty miles to the eastward of Ponce — Guayama, 
founded in 1736, containing about forty-five hun- 
dred inhabitants, and boasting one of the finest 
churches in Puerto Pico. Twelve miles west lies 
Salinas, inland from a good though small harbour, 
and five miles east is the port of Arroyo, which, 
though founded recently, already has a large export 
trade with the United States. The harbour of 
Arroyo, with its handsome town adjacent, was a 
landing place of our troops in their well-executed 
flank movement upon the mountain road from 
Ponce to San Juan, over a cart road leading from 
the coast to Cayey, thence northerly, cutting off 
the Spaniards from their base of supplies. 

Arroyo is called one of the prettiest towns in 
the island, has a population of about twelve hun- 
dred, and sends to the United States annually some 
ten thousand hogsheads of sugar and five thousand 
of molasses, besides rum, etc. E'ear the port are 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COAST. I37 

the wonderful caves of Aguas Buenas, three in 
number, called Oscnra, Clara, and Ermita, and 
from the first named runs the river Caguitas, which 
is a subterranean stream for about 1,200 feet. Iron 
is mined in the harrio of Yaurel, this district. 

On the east coast the chief town is Humacao, 
on the river of that name, founded in 1793, and 
with about six thousand inhabitants. It is three 
miles from the coast, has a large and attractive 
plaza, a fine church, town house and jail, barracks, 
and hospital. This town suffered terribly in the 
hurricane of 1825. 

Ten miles south of it lies Yabucoa, with four 
thousand population, half the entire number — as in 
the case of nearly all the towns and smaller cities — 
being black or coloured people. 

Ten miles northeast of Humacao is the town 
of iTaguabo, with two thousand people, which is of 
local importance from a tradition that it stands 
near or on the site where Columbus landed first in 
the island, coming from the eastward. A settle- 
ment that existed on the site of this town was at- 
tacked and destroyed by the Caribs in 1521. 

Sixteen miles north lies Fajardo, in the extreme 
northeast of the island, and about two miles dis- 
tant from its pretty port, which boasts a third-class 
light for the guidance of mariners. It contains 



138 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

about three thousand inhabitants, and drives a thriv- 
ing trade with the United States in molasses and 
sugar, which are exchanged for shooks, lumber, 
and provisions. Dating from 17Y4, it is a place 
well known to seafaring men, and is said to have 
been the object of attack at one time, in 1824, by 
*^ Mr. Commodoro Porter." The sands of the Rio 
Fa jar do are auriferous. 

Having now arrived at the extreme northeast 
point of the island, from which we took our de- 
parture on this journey of inspection, we may be 
said to have " boxed the compass," even if we have 
not circumnavigated Puerto Kico. Before leav- 
ing this portion of the island, however, we should 
not fail to note the great pasture lands of the east 
and southeast, where vast herds of cattle and horses 
are reared, which form an important object of ex- 
port to other islands of the Caribbean Sea. 



XI. 
INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 

The eastern division of Puerto Rico is less 
populous than the western, and also less conven- 
iently situated for trade, lying as it does on the 
windward side of the island and offering little pro- 
tection to shipping. Aside from the coast towns 
and cities already mentioned, the chief settlements, 
like Caguas, Cayey, etc., occupy the hilly region, 
in the midst of broad pastures and extensive coffee 
plantations. 

Alphabetically arranged, the principal interior 
towns are as follows: 

Adjuntas, with some 2,000 inhabitants, and 
18,000 within its jurisdiction,"^ is situated about 
15 miles from Ponce and has a post office and tele- 
graph station. A popular mountain retreat, more 
than 2,400 feet above the coast level. 

Aguada, already mentioned, with 2,500 popu- 
lation, and about 10,000 within the township, is 

* The territory or section of which it is the most important 
settlement. 

139 



140 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

situated 5 miles from the port of Aguadilla, follow- 
ing the wagon road along the coast. In fact, 
though Aguadilla (" little Aguada ") was formerly 
a smaller place than Aguada, as indicated by its 
name, it now surpasses it both in population and 
attractiveness. 

Aguas Buenas is the centre of a township in 
which are some 8,000 people, about 5,000 coloured 
and 3,000 white. It lies 9 miles from Cayey and 
24 from San Juan, with a wagon road to Caguas. 

Ayhonito, on the central highway from San 
Juan to Ponce, with post office and telegraph sta- 
tion, is a town of about 2,200 inhabitants, with 
6,000 in its jurisdiction, two thirds white and one 
third coloured. It is also, from its elevated situa- 
tion, nearly 3,000 feet above the sea, used as an 
acclimatization station, the climate being particu- 
larly fine, free from malarial germs, cool, and de- 
lightful. 

Anasco, 6 miles from Mayagiiez, has 4,000 in- 
habitants and about 13,000 within its jurisdiction, 
with post and telegraph station. It was in this 
district, in the Rio Guanroba, that the Indians 
drowned a Spaniard (about 1510) to ascertain be- 
yond a doubt if he were mortal, before they rose 
in insurrection. 

Barceloneta, on the north coast, with a rail- 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TEAVEL. 141 

road station and post office, lias only 1,000 inhab- 
itants, and 7,000 in the township. 

Barranquitas, 28 miles distant from the near- 
est railroad station at Cantano, is a town of but 700 
people, with 7,000 in the jurisdiction, one third be- 
ing coloured and two thirds white. 

Barros, 31 miles from Ponce, is another small 
hamlet, though the chief town of a jurisdiction 
numbering about 13,000, with post and telegraph. 
The falls of Barros, in the hamlet of " Saltos," are 
very fine. 

Bayamon, only 6 miles from San Juan, has 
2,500 inhabitants, and about 15,000 within its ju- 
risdiction; it is connected with the capital by rail, 
and has a post and telegraph station. Founded in 
1772, it has the reputation of being a wealthy place, 
with several good streets, a town hall, jail, and bar- 
racks. The district produces sugar-cane, cattle, 
and tropical fruits. Caparra, the first settlement, 
now Pueblo Yiejo, is in the Bayamon district. 

Cabo RojOy 8 miles from San German, has post 
and telegraph station, and something less than 
3,000 inhabitants, with 17,000 in its jurisdiction, 
of which it is the principal town. There are ex- 
tensive salt deposits in the Sierra de Penones which 
have proved very profitable to their owners. 

CaguaSj with 4,000 inhabitants, has more col- 



142 ' PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

oured residents than white, and of the 15,000 peo- 
ple within its jurisdiction more than 8,000 of the 
former, and less than 7,000 of the latter. It has 
post and telegraph. There are hot springs in Ca- 
guitas, this district, and a marble and limestone 
quarry in Canaboncito. 

Camuy, with about 1,000 inhabitants, has a 
railroad, telegraph, and post office, lies about 9 
miles from Arecibo, and contains 10,000 within its 
jurisdiction, most of whom are white. 

Carolina, about 18 miles from San Juan, has 
post and telegraph and 5,000 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction of 10,000. 

Cayey, with about 4,000 inhabitants, and some 
14,000 within its jurisdiction, lies on the mountain 
road 37 miles from San Juan and 14 from Guaya- 
ma, with post and telegraph station. Owing to its 
elevated situation, about 2,300 feet above sea level, 
it has a most agreeable climate, and is a favourite 
retreat for the coast dwellers during the heats of 
summer. 

Ceiha, sl town of 750 inhabitants, with jurisdic- 
tion of 4,000, lies 17 miles northeast of Humacao, 
has a post office and a wagon road to Fajardo and 
l^aguabo. 

dales, with 15,000 people within town and 
jurisdiction, lies in the mountains 19 miles from 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. I43 

Arecibo. It has a post station, but no telegraph, 
and from its isolation suffered severely at the hands 
of some Spanish troops soon after the evacuation 
of Ponce, when terrible outrages were committed 
upon its defenceless inhabitants. 

Cidra (Ciderville), 6 miles from Cayey, has 
about 2,400 inhabitants, and within its jurisdic- 
tion a total of 8,000; has a post office. 

Coamo has some 10,000 people within its juris- 
diction, and about 2,200 in the hamlet, with post 
and telegraph station. It lies about 20 miles from 
Ponce, on the great highway to San Juan. It was 
reached by the American troops about the second 
week in August, 1898, when on their way from 
Ponce to Aybonito, and promptly capitulated. The 
town was founded in 1646, and the mineral med- 
ical waters of the Banos de Coamo have long been 
famous in the island and are visited by thousands. 

Comeiro, municipal jurisdiction of about 6,600 
people, has a post office and lies lY miles from San 
Juan. 

Corozal, town and jurisdiction of 11,500, 22 
miles from San Juan, has a post office and tele- 
graph station. 

DoradOywith about 4,000 inhabitants, has a rail- 
road, post and telegraph station, and is situated be- 
tween 4 and 5 miles from San Juan. 



144 PUERTO EICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

GurahOy a town of some 800 people, with a ju- 
risdiction of 6,000, lias post and telegraph; north- 
west of Humacao. 

Hatillo, coast town, 6 miles west of Arecibo, 
with 400 inhabitants, in a jurisdiction of 9,000, 
has a post office. 

Haio Grande, with about 2,000, jurisdiction of 
12,600, 19 miles from Cayey, has post and tele- 
graph. 

HormigueroSy town and jurisdiction of 3,000, 
about 8 miles from San German, has post and tele- 
graph stations. 

Isabela, a municipal jurisdiction of 12,502 in- 
habitants, situated 10|^ miles from Aguadilla, has 
good buildings of modern construction, and a post 
office. There is a wagon road to Aguadilla and 
Quebradillas. 

Juana Diaz, a village and municipal jurisdic- 
tion of 21,032 inhabitants, is situated 8 miles from 
Ponce and Y2 miles from San Juan. It has a post 
office and railroad station. The mineral waters of 
Catoni, in Amuelas, this district, are excellent in 
stomach troubles. Quarries of lime and gypsum 
are worked in Cintrona, and a curious cave exists 
in Guayabel. 

Juncos, a municipal jurisdiction of 7,282 in- 
habitants, with a post office and telegraph station. 



INLAND TOWNS-ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 145 

An iron mine is worked in tlie harrio of Ceiba- 
norte, in this jurisdiction. 

LareSy a municipal jurisdiction of 17,020 in- 
habitants, of whom 15,005 are wbite, and 2,015 
coloured, Poblacion is tbe chief ward of the juris- 
diction, with 1,575 inhabitants, situated 24 miles 
from Aguadilla. There is a wagon road to Agua- 
dilla, Arecibo, and Mayagliez. There is a market 
every Sunday; there are casinos, a municipal 
library, and a post office. Situated 1,800 feet above 
sea level and has a delightful climate. In Calle- 
jones, this district, is a large cave known as the 
Pajita. 

Las Marias, a town of 750 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction numbering 9,700, situated 15|^ miles 
from Mayagiiez, has two theatres and two casinos. 
The nearest railroad station is in l^aranjales, at a 
distance of 6 miles. There is a post office and 
telegraph station. 

Loiza, a town of 907 inhabitants, chief town of 
a jurisdiction of 9,561, is situated 19 miles from 
San Juan. The nearest railroad station is Rio 
Piedras, 19 miles distant. It has a post office. 
ISTear Loiza exists a large cave known as the In- 
dian Cavern, and a wonderful waterfall. 

Luquillo, a town of 1,560 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction numbering 6,893, is situated 31 miles 



146 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

from Humacao. Gold exists in the sands of its 
rivers. The nearest railroad station is Carolina, 19 
miles distant. Has a post office. It is said that 
a rich gold mine was formerly worked in the harrio 
of Mameyes, this district, but a furious hurricane 
obliterated all traces of it many years ago. 

Manati, a town and jurisdiction of 11,967 in- 
habitants, is situated 17 miles from Arecibo. 
There is a railroad station, a post office, and a tele- 
graph station. There is a spacious cavern near the 
town called Swallow Cave. 

Maricao, a municipal jurisdiction of 8,000 in- 
habitants, is situated 9^ miles from San German 
and 15^ from Mayagliez, with a wagon road to 
Mayagiiez and Las Marias. It lies about 1,500 
feet above the sea, and there is, or was, an iron mine 
within the limits of the township. 

Maundbo, a town of 903 inhabitants, of whom 
346 are white and 567 coloured. It is the chief 
town of a jurisdiction of 5,689 inhabitants — 1,495 
white and 4,194 coloured. It is situated 24 miles 
from Guayama, with a post office and telegraph 
station. 

Moco, a village of 1,034 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction numbering 11,084, is situated 4^ miles 
from the station of Aguadilla, with which it is con- 
nected by a wagon road. Has a post office. 



INLAND TOWNS— EOUTES OF TRAVEL. 14Y 

Morovis, a town of 619 inliabitaiits, with a ju- 
risdiction numbering 8,234, is situated 32 miles 
from Arecibo, and has a post office. 

NaranjitOy a municipal jurisdiction of 5,825 
inhabitants, is situated 21 miles from San Juan. 

Patillas, a municipal jurisdiction of 10,553 in- 
habitants, is situated 62 miles from Guayama. It 
has a post office. Kock crystals in masses are found 
in the hills of Mala Pascua, this district. 

Penuelas, sl town of 859 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction numbering 10,623, is situated 10 miles 
from Ponce. 

Piedras, a town of 1,200 inhabitants, of whom 
900 are white and 300 coloured. It is the chief 
town of a jurisdiction of 8,545 inhabitants — 5,698 
white and 2,847 coloured. It is situated 3f miles 
from Humacao, on the highway from San Juan 
to Humacao. Has a post office. In the harrio of 
Collares, this jurisdiction, iron is mined. 

Quebradillas, a town of 1,055 inhabitants — 
868 white and 187 coloured. Chief town of a 
jurisdiction of 5,899 inhabitants, of whom 3,520 
are white and 379 coloured. It is situated 17-J 
miles from Aguadilla. Has a post office. 

Rincon, a town of 300 inhabitants, with a juris- 
diction numbering 5,817, is situated 15 miles from 
Mayagiiez. It has a railroad station and a post office. 



148 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Rio Grande, a town of 695 inhabitants, of 
wJiom 220 are white and 475 coloured. It is the 
chief town of a jurisdiction of 6,170 inhabitants, 
2,444 of whom are white and 3,726 coloured. The 
town has 8 wards. It is situated 25 miles from 
San Juan. The nearest railroad station is Lu- 
quillo, 27 kilometres distant, and it has a post 
office. 

Rio Piedras, a town of 1,054 inhabitants — 581 
white and 473 coloured. It is the chief town of 
a jurisdiction of 9,010 inhabitants, of whom 3,482 
are white and 5,528 coloured. It is situated 7 
miles from San Juan, with which it is connected 
bj a railroad. It has a theatre and a casa de recreo, 
or country house, for the governors of the province. 
There is a post office and telegraph station. 

Sahana Grande, a municipal jurisdiction of 
9,587 inhabitants, is situated 18 miles from Maya- 
giiez, on the highway from Mayagiiez to Ponce, 
with a post office. 

Within this district, at Rincon, is a cascade well 
worth a visit, and in the harrio of Eayo a spring, 
the waters of which are said to be efficacious in 
several diseases. 

Salinas, a town of 655 inhabitants, with a juris- 
diction numbering 4,104 inhabitants, is situated 22 
miles from Cayey and 12 from Guayama. It has 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 149 

a good harbour a short distance from town. The 
salt deposits which give this district its name — 
Salinas — are found in the harrio of Aguirre. 

San German, sl city of 8,000 inhabitants, with 
a jurisdiction numbering 30,600, is situated 115 
miles from San Juan. It has three fine market 
places, a charity hospital, a seminary, good school 
buildings, theatre, casino, etc. There is a railroad 
in construction, and a post office and telegraph 
station. 

It is situated on a long, uneven hill, at the foot 
of which lies the beautiful valley of the Juanajibos 
and Boqueron rivers, which is made a beautiful 
garden by the orange, lemon, and tamarind trees, 
and various other plants growing here. Coffee, 
cotton, and cane are also raised. 

The town was founded in 1511 by Captain 
Miguel Toro, and has enjoyed the title of city since 
1877. Its principal streets are Luna and Comercio. 
Its chief plaza is square and large in size, with a 
church of ancient construction. There are two hos- 
pitals — one for men and one for women. The 
town hall is a good building, of masonry, two stories 
high, with a clock tower. 

San Sebastian, sl town of 1,200 inhabitants, 

with a jurisdiction numbering 16,000, is situated 

14 miles from Aguadilla; has a post office and tele- 
n 



150 PUERTO EICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

graph station. Two great caves are found in tliis 
district, at Guajataca and Enea, a waterfall called 
the Salto de CoUazo, and warm springs at Pozas. 

Santa Isabel, a municipal jurisdiction of 3,200 
inhabitants, is situated 63 miles from San Juan and 
16 miles from Ponce; has a post office and tele- 
graph station. 

San Turce, the fifth district from the capital, 
with 3,640 inhabitants, is situated 3 miles from 
San Juan. 

Toa Alta, a town of 1,100 inhabitants, with a 
jurisdiction numbering 7,821, is situated 15 J miles 
from San Juan; there is a second-class wagon road 
and a post office. 

Toa Baja, sl municipal jurisdiction of 3,481 
inhabitants, is situated 10^ miles from San Juan; 
has a post office. 

Trujillo Alto, a town of 1,800 inhabitants, with 
a jurisdiction numbering 4,072, is situated 15 miles 
from San Juan. The nearest railroad station is 
Rio Piedras, 7^ miles distant; has a post office. 

Utuado, a town of 3,738 inhabitants, of whom 
2,123 are white and 1,615 coloured, is the chief 
town of a jurisdiction of 30,045 inhabitants, 22,- 
757 of whom are white. It is situated 56 miles 
from San Juan and 14 miles from Arecibo, with 
a wagon road to the capital. There is a post office 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 151 

and a telegraph station. An excellent situation, 
1,500 feet above the sea. 

In the Utuado district are several fine cascades, 
the Salto de Morones, Saltillos, and Canalizos; 
there is a cave near Cagnana called the Cavern of 
the Dead, because of the Indian skeletons which 
were found there many years ago. 

Vega AUa, a town of 985 inhabitants, of whom 
225 are white and 760 coloured, is the chief town 
of a jurisdiction of 5,420 inhabitants — situated 22 
miles from San Juan. The nearest railroad station 
is that of Yega Baja, 12^ miles distant, with a first- 
class wagon road. There is a post office. 

Villa de la Vega Baja, a village of 2,531 in- 
habitants, chief town of the judicial district of its 
name, with municipal jurisdiction of 10,650 in- 
habitants, is situated 23|^ miles from San Juan. 
There is a railroad, a post office, and a telegraph 
station. 

Its church, which forms one of the facades 
fronting on the beautiful plaza, is in its propor- 
tions and general appearance one of the finest in 
the island. Its two towers are elegant, one con- 
taining a bell and the other the public clock. Op- 
posite the church is the town hall, a fine building 
of rubble masonry of one story, but large enough 
to hold, besides the municipal offices, the jail and 



152 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

police station. Tlie aspect of the square and of tlie 
whole village is very agreeable. 

While a system of communication exists along 
the coast, and, in the words of M. Reclus, " in 
respect to its internal communications Puerto Rico 
is a model West Indian island/' yet the only really 
excellent road of any length is that between San 
Juan and Ponce. Though, as the author just 
quoted observes, " all the towns are connected by 
highways which develop around the periphery of 
the quadrilateral a second quadrilateral, all the 
sides of which are united at intervals by transverse 
routes/' yet most of the lateral and transverse roads 
are little more than trails or horse paths, almost if 
not quite impassable in rainy weather, without 
bridges, and not of sufficient width for carriages. 

For interior communication there are only a 
few local roads or paths. They are usually two 
yards in width, made by the various owners, and 
can not be well travelled in rainy weather. They 
are more properly horse and mule trails, and oblige 
people to go in single file. In late years much has 
been attempted to improve the highways connect- 
ing the principal cities, and more has been accom- 
plished than in most Spanish colonies. There is a 
good made road connecting Ponce on the southern 
coast with San Jnan, the capital. Other good roads 




■^3 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 153 

also extend for a short distance along the north 
coast and along the south coast. The road from 
Guayama is also said to be a passably good one. 

There are in the island about one hundred and 
fifty miles of excellent road, and this is all that re- 
ceives any attention, transportation being effected 
elsewhere on horseback. In the construction of a 
road level foundation is sought, and on this is put 
a heavy layer of crushed rock and brick, which, 
after having been well packed and rounded, is cov- 
ered with a layer of earth. This is well packed 
also, and upon the whole is spread a layer of ground 
limestone, which is pressed and rolled until it forms 
almost a glossy surface. This makes an excellent 
road here, where the climate is such that it does 
not affect it, and when there is no heavy traffic ; but 
these conditions being changed, the road, it is 
thought, would not stand so well. 

From Palo Seco, situated about a mile and a 
half from the capital, on the opposite side of the 
bay, a carriage road, perfectly level, has been con- 
structed for a distance of twenty-two leagues to 
the town of Aguadilla on the west coast, passing 
through the towns of Yega Baja, Manati, Arecibo, 
Hatillo, Camuy, and Isabella. This road has been 
carried for several leagues over swampy lands, 
which are intersected by deep drains to carry off 
the water. 

The road from Aguadilla to Mayagliez is in 
some parts very good, in other parts only fair. From 
Aguadilla to Aguada, a distance of a league, the 



154 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

road is excellent and level. From thence to Maya- 
giiez, through the village of Rincon and the town 
of Aiiasco, the road is generally good, but on the 
seashore it is sometimes interrupted by shelving 
rocks. Across the valley of Anasco the road is car- 
ried through a boggy tract, with bridges over sev- 
eral deep creeks of fresh water. From thence to 
the large commercial town of Mayagliez the road 
is uneven and requires some improvement. But 
the roads from Mayagliez and Ponce to their re- 
spective ports on the seashore can not be surpassed 
by any in Europe. They are made in a most sub- 
stantial manner, and their convex form is well 
adapted to preserve them from the destruction 
caused by the heavy rains of the climate. These 
roads have been made over tracts of swampy ground 
to the seacoast, but with little and timely repair 
they will last forever. 

A road, which may be called a carriage road, 
has been made from Ponce to the village of Adjun- 
tas, situated five leagues in the interior of the moun- 
tains. The road along the coast, from Ponce to 
Guayama, is fairly good; from thence to Patillas 
there is an excellent carriage road for a distance 
of three leagues; from the latter place to the coast 
is a highroad well constructed. From Patillas to 
Fa jar do, on the eastern coast, passing through the 
towns of Maimavo, Yubacao, Humacao, and JSTa- 
guabo, the roads are not calculated for wheel ve- 
hicles, in consequence of being obliged to ascend 
and descend several steep hills. That which crosses 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OF TRAVEL. 155 

tlie mountain of Mala Pascua, dividing the north 
and east coasts, is a good and solid road, upon which 
a person on horseback may travel with great ease 
and safety. The road crossing the valley of Yu- 
bacao, which consists of a soft and humid soil, re- 
quires more attention than that crossing the moun- 
tain at Mala Pascua, which has a fine, sandy soil. 

From Fajardo to the capital, through the towns 
of Luquillo, Loisa, and Rio Piedras, the road is 
tolerably good for persons on horseback as far as 
Rio Piedras, and from thence to the city of San 
Juan, a distance of two leagues, is an excellent car- 
riage road, made by the order and under the inspec- 
tion of the captain-general, part of it through a 
mangrove swamp. Over the river Loisa is a hand- 
some bridge, and on the road near Rio Piedras is 
a handsome stone one over a deep rivulet. 

One of the best roads in the island extends from 
the town of Papino, situated in the mountains, to 
the town of Aguadilla on the coast, distant five 
leagues and a half, through the village of La Moca, 
a distance of three leagues from the latter place. 
It is crossed by ten deep mountain rivulets, former- 
ly impassable, but over which solid bridges have 
now been built, with side railings. In the moun- 
tainous district within the circumference of a few 
leagues no less than forty-seven bridges have been 
built to facilitate the communication between one 
place and the other. 

The following are the roads of six metres width, 
four and a half in centre of pounded stone. They 



156 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

have iron bridges and are in good shape for travel 
all the year: 

(1) San Juan to the Shore near Ponce. — From 
San Juan to Ponce the central road is exactly 134: 
kilometres. Distances along the line are: Rio 
Piedras, 11; Caguas, 25; to Cayei, 24; Aybonito, 
20; Coamo, 18; Juana Diaz, 20; to Ponce, 13; 
and to the shore, 3. Exact. 

(2) San Juan to Bayamon. — By ferry fifteen 
minutes to Catano, and from there by road to Bay- 
amon 10 kilometres. This passes alongside the 
railway. 

(3) Rio Piedras to Mameyes, 36 kilometres: 
from Rio Piedras to Carolina, 12; to Rio Grande, 
19; to Mameyes, 5. 

(4) Cayei to Arroyo, 35 kilometres; from Cayei 
to Guayama, 25; to Arroyo, 8; from San Juan to 
Arroyo, via Cayei, is 95 kilometres. 

(5) Ponce to Ad juntas, 32 kilometres. 

(6) San German to Anasco, 33 kilometres; from 
San German to Mayagiiez, 21 kilometres; Maya- 
giiez to ASasco, 12; Mayagiiez to Hormigueros, 
11; Mayagiiez to Cabo Rojo, 18; Mayagiiez to Las 
Marias, 23; Mayagiiez to Maricao, 35; Hormigue- 
ros, to San German, 14. E'ear Mayagiiez the roads 
are best. There are good roads in all directions. 

(7) Aguadilla to San Sebastian, 18. 

(8) Arecibo to Utuado, 33. 



INLAND TOWNS— ROUTES OP TRAVEL. 157 



Aguadilla. 

Arecibo. 

Bayamon. 



Table of Distances, in Miles, between Principal Places. 

Adjuntas. 
44 
24 
60 

48 130 94 28 Cayey. 

27 76 40 42 16 Coamo. 

98 104 74 38 45 61 Fajardo, 

54 140 104 38 14 26 46 Guayama. 

04 102 72 33 29 44 16 29 Humacao. 

26 17 32 69 76 60 106 78 102 Mayagiiez. 

16 54 40 60 35 19 80 38 63 36 Ponce. 

25 26 33 99 63 47 108 66 91 8 28 

66 81 50 6 37 48 36 49 42 102 70 

44 20 20 17 45 24 56 44 50 54 40 54 

18 38 38 104 52 36 97 54 79 22 16 15 82 



115 



San Germdn. 
San Juan de 
Puerto Bico. 

23 Vega Baja. 
58 Yauco. 



XII. 
GOVEENMENT AND PEOPLE. 

Under Spanish rule Puerto Rico was governed 
as a province of Spain, rather than as a colony. 
All authority was centralized in the person of 
a viceroy, who, as governor and captain-general, 
was civil ruler and military commander of the 
forces. In each military district resided an officer 
in command of an armed force, and each town or 
city was presided over by its alcalde, or mayor, ap- 
pointed by the central power. Under the same 
regulations as prevail in Spain, the provincial depu- 
tation was elected by popular suffrage, which, 
however, was less a franchise than a farce! The 
regular peace garrison of the island was about three 
thousand men, and the annual expenses usually ab- 
sorbed the revenues. 

The island was divided territorially into the 
capital and seven departments. The first (1) was 
the territorial division of Bayamon, in the north- 
east, the agricultural features of which are sugar- 
cane, pasturage, fine woods in the forests, some 
158 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 159 

coffee, and tropical fruits. (2) Arecibo, on tlie 
north coast, producing sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee, 
and fine cattle. (3) Aguadilla, tborougbly trop- 
ical in its resources of coffee, sugar, cocoanuts, and 
all other tropic fruits. (4) Mayagliez, same as the 
last named. (5) Ponce, sugar, coffee, etc. (6) 
Guayama, grazing, sugar-cane, coffee in the hills. 
(7) Humacao, with sugar-cane, some coffee, and 
vast areas of pasturage. 

The prosperity of Puerto Rico, says the 
author of Nouvelle Geographic Universelle, is 
shown as much in its general material progress as 
in its increased population. Since the middle of 
the last century the social condition of the inhab- 
itants has undergone a complete change. At that 
time the peasantry dwelt in rude hovels without 
shutters or doors, and their only utensils were cjla- 
. bashes; an empty bottle was considered worthy of 
being handed down as an heirloom to the favourite 
son! . . . During this century the yield of coffee, 
sugar, tobacco, and to a less extent honey and wax, 
have enriched the island, which now possesses the 
me^ins^of purchasing all the wares of the civilized 
world. Most of the exchange is carried on with 
the IJnited States, whence come corn, flour, salt 
fish, meats, and lumber, in return for sugar, coffee, 
molasses, etc. Nearly all the sea-borne traflic is 
under foreign flags, the islanders having but little 
taste for a seafaring life. . . . In 1765 the popu- 



160 PUEETO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

lation numbered but forty-five thousand (?), now 
exceeds eight hundred thousand, and has doubled 
itself on an average every thirty years — a rate al- 
most as rapid as that of the French Canadians. This 
is due mainly to the fertility of the soil and to the 
large immigrations from Spanish- American colo- 
nies during the wars for independence, from 1810 
to 1825. . . . It is one of the few countries in 
tropical America where the whites outnumber the 
black and coloured people, and the males exceed 
the females. It is remarkable to find the Euro- 
pean race on the whole increasing more rapidly 
than the African, in a climate certainly more fa- 
vourable to the latter! 

While we can not arbitrarily differentiate the 
natives of this island from other Hispano- Ameri- 
cans, still they have their peculiarities. According 
to the latest available statistics, there is a popula- 
tion here of eight hundred and thirteen thousand, 
of which less than half, or about three hundred and 
twenty-six thousand, are of mixed blood or col- 
oured. The racial type, as well as the language, 
is Spanish, and education has not received here 
any greater attention than in the mother country, 
scarcely more than one seventh being able to read 
and write. There are some good schools, as well 
as colleges of low grade, while every district has, 
or is supposed to have, its school of primary in- 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 161 

struction. There will doubtless be a great demand 
in the very near future for teachers who can speak, 
read, and write Spanish as well as English — that is, 
if we are to keep pace with our traditions and seek 
to implant in the minds of these insular colonists 
of ours a knowledge of our institutions. 

There were, at the time the island became an 
American possession, some ^ve hundred primary 
schools and numerous_jof_ secondary and higher 
grade, but no institution for the " higher educa- 
tion.'' 

" The Puertoriqueiios," wrote an author of the 
last century, ^' are well proportioned and deli- 
cately organized, yet at the same time they lack 
vigour; are slow and indolent, yet possess vivid 
imaginations; are vain and inconstant, yet hospit- 
able to strangers and most ardent lovers of liberty." 
He then describes the Cheutos, as the descendants 
of the Majorcan Jews are called; the Giharos, or 
Indio-Spanish mestizos, etc., and says of them: 
^' From this variety of mixture has resulted a char- 
acter that is equivocal and ambiguous, but pecul- 
iarly Puertoriquenian. The heat of the climate 
has made them indolent, to which end also the fer- 
tility of the soil has conduced, and the solitary life 
of the country residents has rendered them rather 



162 PTJEETO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

It is well known that the Latin peoples do not 
share in the aversion felt by the Teutons and An- 
glo-Saxons for the races that have complexions more 
deeply dyed than theirs. French affiliation with 
aboriginal peoples is a matter of notoriety; bnt be- 
tween the French and the Spanish is this differ- 
ence: that while the former were spontaneous in 
their expressions of affection for the red and black 
and copper-coloured inhabitants of lands they con- 
quered, the latter courted them only with ulterior 
motive. The result is shown in the mixed peoples, 
the product of amalgamation with either national- 
ity, for while the French resultant is agile, witty, 
laughter-loving, and affectionate, the Spanish is 
more often morose and treacherous. 

Is'ow, to specialize from these generalizations: 
The Spaniards in Puerto Eico and other West In- 
dian islands did not so thoroughly eliminate the 
aborigines that no traces remain of Indian blood in 
the veins of the present inhabitants. In other 
words, there are many half-breeds, or mixed people 
■ — mestizos and mestizas — who can trace connec- 
tions, more or less remote and uncontaminated, 
with the ancient race of Puerto Rico. 

Add to these the Africans, the Major can Jews, 
and the Canary Islanders, who have been brought 
here at one time or another, and the various half- 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 163 

castes resulting from the mingling of these bloods 
with the Spanish, and one may not wonder that of 
the total population of Puerto Kico pretty nearly 
one half is something else than Castilian, pure and 
undefiled. 

Slavery was abolished thirty years ago, but dur- 
ing the time it flourished many thousands were im- 
ported from Africa and many other thousands born 
in the island of African blood, so that the majority 
of people other than of Spanish birth can point 
to the Dark Continent as the home of their an- 
cestors. 

Computing the population at eight hundred 
thousand, in round numbers, not more than half of 
that number, or say four hundred thousand, are of 
Spanish ancestry, and the other half composed 
mainly of mixed bloods. This statement is not 
made as a matter of reproach, but of fact. If the 
Spaniard chose to consort with the tawny beauty 
of the forest and raise a brood of semi-savage chil- 
dren, that was surely his business, and no reproach 
to him so long as he remained faithful to his fam- 
ily. But the records, so far as they are accessible, 
do not show a fidelity to the marital vow on the 
part of the man that is at all edifying. Perhaps 
the climate may have been to blame, for where 
children may disport themselves in the garb in- 



164 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

vented and worn by the sartorial artists of Eden, 
crave no greater excitement than a cock-fight and 
no greater variety of food than a raw banana or 
boiled yam, the tendency is toward Nature's way! 

There may not have been so striking examples 
of aboriginal atavism as are seen across the channel 
in Haiti, where the African sorcery has become 
paramount and serpent worship is still practised, 
because the Spanish parent was the stronger and 
held the offspring to the paternal type. There 
are some who think it would have been better if 
the aboriginal t}^e had been preserved and contin- 
ued, especially as the Spaniard who came here to 
conquer new lands did not come from any better 
motives than that of acquiring wealth, nor from 
any other desire than to gratify his lust for gold 
and for blood. He rarely came as a colonist, in the 
sense that the Anglo-Saxon regarded the settling 
of strange countries. 

Doubtless, if the Spaniard had found all he ex- 
pected here, the race inhabiting these islands to-day 
would be the most cruel on the face of the earth. 
If the gold, the rich mines, the opportunities for 
the enslavement of his fellow men which were af- 
forded in the first century of his setthng here — if 
these had continued, with their consequent license 
for unbridled passions, for the perpetuation of un- 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 165 

mitigated cruelties, such as stain tlie page of history 
wherever Spain has gone for conquest — the people 
of Puerto Kico would hardly be fit subjects for ac- 
quisition by the United States. 

But poverty is the great leveller. It is here 
as it is in Spain. While the Spanish Government 
is a hideous thing — a survival of the times of 
Charles I and Philip II, smacking of the Inquisi- 
tion and autos da fe — the Spanish common people 
are at heart honest, lovable, and trustworthy. 
They have been subjected to oppression in all its 
forms, until at last they know of no other life than 
that of poverty, with its grinding toil, its depri- 
vations. So with the common people — and they 
predominate here — of Puerto Kico. They will wel- 
come any change that brings them a new oppor- 
tunity. ]^ot that they understand what it may 
be or how to avail themselves of it when it comes; 
but they are intelligent enough to know that noth- 
ing could be worse than the life they lead now. 

But while the opening of the island to a re- 
development will mean the releasing of the common 
people from a hidebound despotism, it is by no 
means certain that there will be great opportunities 
for the acquisition of wealth, either through the ex- 
ploitation of mineral or agricultural resources, by 

immigrants from the United States. 
32 



166 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The conditions that have prevailed for centuries 
can not be changed in a day; the lands to which 
titles have been held for hundreds of years can not 
be alienated in a short time; even the lands that 
may fall to onr Government by right of conquest 
will have to remain inaccessible for some time. 
But that there are mineral resources worth exploit- 
ing, tracts well worth purchase for development by 
means of modern agricultural operations — coffee 
lands in the hills and sugar lands along the coast 
— we have every reason to believe. 

While the better classes are mainly engaged in 
business and are of Spanish origin, most of the 
poorer are resident in the country, or, what is far 
worse, living from hand-to-mouth in the towns and 
cities. It seems incredible that an island thirty- 
six hundred miles in area, much of it arable land, 
capable of producing every variety of fruit and 
vegetable known to the tropics, should yet contain 
a population a large proportion of which is poverty- 
stricken. Yet such is the case, and whether a bet- 
ter government will change the conditions so radi- 
cally that all will be improved in means, and also 
afford an opening for enterprising Americans, re- 
mains to be seen. 

It is not strange that poverty exists in the 
ISTorth, where a long winter prevents the poor from 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 167 

raising even the necessaries of existence; but 'in a 
land where the sun always shines, where it is never 
impossible to plant and sow, to harvest and gather 
fruit — to find people there without the means for 
supporting life, and in the country districts at that, 
seems inexplicable. The reason for this condition 
lies not on the surface of things, but down in the 
primitive foundations of society. 

The children, as has been intimated, white, 
black, and coloured of both sexes, disport them- 
selves " in their complexions " merely, varied by 
such additions of dirt as they may receive while at 
play, and which is not always removed at night. 
They are naturally cleanly, as are most dwellers in 
tropical countries, because the bath is always re- 
freshing, and to paddle in cool streams (if they 
may be found) and beneath overarching tree-ferns 
and bananas is pleasant er than rolling in the dirt. 
But cleanliness is only a relative term, depending 
upon the surroundings. In the large towns and 
cities, where opportunities for bathing are infre- 
quent, the youngsters are not so inviting in appear- 
ance as in the country districts, along the coast, or 
where, in fact, pools and streams are available. 

The country people live as nearly in a state of 
nature as they can and as the laws will allow, 
simply because a state of nature fits them best and 



168 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

is comfortable. The children reluctantly don the 
garb of civilization at or near the age of ten or 
twelve, and then only after many and tearful pro- 
testations. In their innocence, they see no harm in 
going naked; they are certainly free from the 
pruriency which attends the wearing of clothes; 
their forms are symmetrical, their health is gener- 
ally good. But for the existence of fevers and of 
such noxious insects as centipeds, tarantulas, scor- 
pions, etc., child life in the tropics would be with- 
out any alloy of unhappiness. 

It is in the market places that the common peo- 
ple most assemble and may be studied to the best 
advantage. There, as well as in the shops, it will 
be seen that their transactions are of a very humble 
character, chiefly measured in small change and 
not in dollars. Each vender has a space assigned, 
within which are piled small heaps of fruits or 
vegetables that he or she has brought from the 
country, and not infrequently a fighting cock is 
tied to the leg of the little stool on which the ven- 
der is sitting. 

Making love, of course, goes on all the time, 
for the Creole nature is soft and languishing, com- 
plaisant, easily tickled by compliment, and prone to 
hanker after the " forbidden fruit." Scratch a 
Puerto Rican and you find a Spaniard underneath 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 169 

the skin, so the language and home customs of Spain 
prevail here, as in Cuba. The ladies of the upper 
classes are strictly secluded and have little freedom, 
yet entrance into society here is more easily attained 
than in Spain or in Cuba. That the ladies are 
charming, goes without saying. They differ from 
the Havanese as the gentlewomen of 'New York and 
l^ewport differ from their sisters in the country. 
They are insular, even provincial perhaps, but they 
possess charming traits of character, gentle man- 
ners and speech, goodness of heart, and unaffected 
frankness with their friends. Their acquaintance 
is an easier matter of accomplishment than that of 
the Havana ladies; still they are surrounded with 
the same safeguards that hedge about the others, 
and which the ardent young men deem so super- 
fluous. 

To one who has had the pleasure of meeting 
them at home and of being introduced into their 
society by a mutual friend, the remembrance of 
their graciousness seems like a bit of good fortune, 
that rarely falls to the lot of the West Indian 
traveller. 

Those of gentle birth and breeding are sweet 
and flower-like, with a bright alertness peculiar to 
the Latin woman transplanted to American soil 
and climate. Their glances are swift and meaning, 



170 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

their great black eyes capable of seeming quite 
full of expression; their features are not always 
classically regular, but usually attractive. They 
are petite of form and have small hands and feet, 
dress in the latest style from Paris (the " latest " 
being usually two years old by the time it reaches 
Puerto Rico), and, in a word, are thoroughly femi- 
nine. It is this charm of femininity that makes 
the Creole, whether French or Spanish, so potent 
with man. It was a Creole, it will be remembered 
— Josephirte^^a native of Martinique — who capti- 
vated and ruled JSTapoleon. She ruled him, that is, 
in all matters domestic and within her ken and com- 
prehension; her limitations were those of her sex, her 
weapons tact and a persuasive charm of graciousness. 
One is continually reminded, in this island, of 
the Oriental ancestry of its Spanish inhabitants, 
particularly by their dwellings, with open central 
courts, or patios, flat roofs, or azoteas, and the foun- 
tains plashing their waters on surrounding flowers. 
These are the houses of the better classes, their mas- 
sive stone walls maintaining a seclusion, and their 
interiors steeped in an air of mystery as deep as 
that enveloping the harem of any Turk of Cairo or 
Constantinople. The characteristics of the family 
also are Oriental, bearing the impress of the Arabs 
who conquered Spain a thousand years and more 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 171 

ago, and wlio lived seven long centuries in the 
Iberian peninsula. The Puerto Rican home life, in 
fact, differs in no important particular from that of 
Spain and Mexico, Havana and Madrid, but it is 
very difficult for the stranger to obtain even a 
glimpse of the Hispano- American gynceceum. In 
the writer's experience it was primarily accom- 
plished by engaging quarters in the family of an 
indigent Don who had seen better days. It was 
not a boarding house he kept; perish the thought! 
but a casa de huespedes, and at his table assembled 
people of the highest quality — that is, soUeros, or 
bachelors, editors of papers, attaches at the captain- 
general's palace, and military men. 

The taking of a stranger with one to call on a 
friend in his home is considered at least a breach of 
privilege; however, there was a bright young lady 
at the house, of American parentage, who was the 
object of a certain Spanish gentleman's adoration, 
and this Spaniard had a pretty cousin, a sweet 
young lady, who was not enamoured of any one 
in particular, and who kindly consented to accom- 
pany her male relative in his frequent calls at the 
casa de huespedes, for appearance's sake. Thus, if 
the reader can make out from this very involved 
explanation that the little cousin, though exceed- 
ingly interesting, was yet considered by the lovers 



172 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

as somewliat in the way, it may be understood how 
it came about that she and the writer occupied the 
balcony, while the twain held tete-a-tete in the 
parlour. 

A disinterested act like this brought its own 
reward, for from his fair interlocutrice the writer 
obtained a deal of information not set down in the 
books, and eventually his introduction into the 
home of her family. Our conversations sometimes 
turned quite easily on love, and the query natu- 
rally arose, whether there were really any differ- 
ences in the manner of love making as practised by 
our respective nationalities. 

The writer made the discovery — perhaps not 
an original one — that the Spanish- American lover, 
like his Saxon sympathizer, frequently drops into 
poesy as a means of relieving the pressure on his 
overburdened heart. The stock poetry of lovers is 
about the same in both languages, English and 
Spanish, differing mainly in having a different tag 
on it, one quoting Byron or Tom Moore, perchance, 
and the other — well, some author of celebrity in Es- 
paiia. Sometimes, like his fellow-sufferer in this 
country, he strives to be original, and even his 
prose takes a tinge of poetry, as shown by this ex- 
ample extracted from a young lady's album of verse 
and sentiment: 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 173 

Angel of light! Flower born in heaven and 
watered by angels' tears! Pardon me that I even 
attempt to ntter with these profane lips thy sacred 
name! It is not a song only that I would fain 
offer thy delicate ears, bnt a blessing, a benediction; 
a feeble effort, it is trne, bnt as pnre as thy beauty, 
as enthusiastic as the soul of youth, since to sing 
thy manifold graces worthily, I confess, it would 
be necessary to hire a choir of angels and a heavenly 
harp! 

It is not possible for a mere mortal, who has 
only received from on high a heart receptive, a 
soul responsive, to bask in the flame of thy beauty 
without being consumed with admiration, with ven- 
eration, and yet with sadness ! 

And so on, until the courtship is completed and 
wedding bells, perhaps, ring out the knell of poesy 
and passion. 

Each country has its type of beauty, each type 
is the theme of enthusiastic writers — has been from 
time immemorial. The type here is also that of 
Spain, the mother country. Brunettes prevail and 
blondes are a rarity. The large eyes, black as night ; 
the peachblow complexion; hair abundant, dark 
and glossy as a raven's wing; gracefully moulded, 
voluptuous form — these attributes of Spanish 
beauty have not changed during all the three hun- 
dred years of Spanish domination. 



174 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The ladies do not veil their faces, to be sure, 
like the Oriental odalisques, though they protect 
them with powder, unsparingly and unblushingly 
applied. Visit any school in the island and you 
will find teacher and scholar alike wearing this 
mask of beauty. Even the pupils of the art 
schools, as well as the workwomen in the cigar 
shops, use the powdery protection against the sun's 
rays. On every easel in the art academy and on 
the bench by the side of every woman engaged in 
rolling cigarette or cigar lies a little box of powder 
^nd a rabbit's foot. There is nothing unusual in 
this public use of the article, since its application 
is so universal, through long custom, and all ladies 
regard it as an indispensable adjunct of the toilet, 
and absolutely necessary to make them attractive; 
which is, or should be, their highest ambition. 

The r^nge of household occupations is not great, 
consisting chiefly of embroidery and needlework. 
In the higher vocations few of them are employed, 
though now and then one attains to local distinction 
in sculpture or painting. Prohibited pleasures are 
many, and those in which women may indulge 
very, few -indeed. 

To conclude this chapter with a Spanish writ- 
er's opinion of the hello sexo of the island : " The 
fair sex are sweet and amiable, faithful as wives, 



GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE. 1Y5 

loving as sisters, sweethearts, and daughters, orna- 
ments to any society in the world, tasteful in dress, 
tactful in conversation, graceful in deportment, 
and extremely elegant in their carriage. In truth, 
visitors from Old Spain have often remarked their 
resemblance to the beautiful doncellas of Cadiz, 
who indeed are world famous for their beauty, 
grace, and loveliness! '' 

All the islanders speak Spanish, of course, are 
governed by Spanish laws, profess the Koman 
Catholic religion, and have Spanish habitudes. 
Owing to the comparative density of population 
in the country districts, most of the people are poor, 
and extremely poor at that. According to the au- 
thor of a book published in Spain, called La Cues- 
tion de Puerto Eico, the density of population is 
most extraordinary, with about 1,744 inhabitants to 
every square (Spanish) league, while in Cuba it is 
only 376. The writer argues from this the eventual 
prosperity of the greater number, as there will be no 
opportunity for such vast holdings as in Cuba, with 
their consequent development of a landed class. 
Twenty years ago the number of individual pro- 
prietors here was more than fifty-five thousand, 
while in Cuba at the same time, with double the 
population, they did not exceed twenty-eight thou- 
sand. 



1Y6 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

This subject has an important aspect at present, 
when so many Americans doubtless cherish the 
hope of acquiring some holding or other in our 
new possessions. But while it is well known that 
the island is already well inhabited, ranking fourth 
or fifth only from the most densely populated coun- 
try in the world, yet it is the opinion of those ac- 
quainted with Puerto Eico and its possibilities that 
it can safely hold two hundred thousand more 
without inconvenience, or at least a round million 
of inhabitants. 



XIII. 
FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 

Our Jack tars hold it as an axiom that there 
is no Sabbath in four-fathom waters, nor in foreign 
countries, where that holy day is mainly given over 
to amusements. That is, Jack gives himself the 
benefit of the doubt, when the religious forms and 
ceremonies are dubious, and on the sacred day of 
the seven joins the throng and follows the crowd, 
which in Cuba and Puerto Rico betakes itself to 
the cockpit and the bull ring — in the vernacular, 
the valla de gallos and the corrida de toros. 

Had you crossed, perchance, the main plaza of 
San Juan de Puerto Rico almost any Sunday morn- 
ing between the hours of eight and nine, before the 
late change of ownership, you might have heard a 
loud whirring and clacking from the corridor of an 
ancient structure. If you had investigated, you 
would have discovered two perspiring black boys 
turning a crank attached to an immense wooden 
globe, within which, as it is hollow, were the tickets 
for the current lottery of the municipality. After 

177 



178 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the tickets liave been tliorouglily stirred up the 
motion ceases and one of the ^^ motors/' having 
been blindfolded, thrusts in a hand and extracts 
a bit of pasteboard. Then the wooden sphere is 
whirled around again and the several processes are 
repeated until all the lucky numbers have been 
taken from this queer and primitive receptacle. 

This is merely preliminary to the festivities of 
the day, and after all the good Cubanos and Puerto 
Riquenos have been to church, or during the latter 
half of the afternoon, they hie themselves to the 
bull ring or the cockpit, which are usually in the 
suburbs of the city. Ladies are -countenanced at 
the former, but only the sterner sex may indulge 
in the recreations of the latter. 

The largest valla de gallos of Puerto Rico is 
probably that of San Juan, the capital of the island, 
and is situated just without the city walls, in the 
Marina beneath the frowning harbour-front of the 
great fortress. It is not an ambitious structure 
architecturally, being merely a rough wall of ma- 
son-work, topped by a roof of corrugated iron, in- 
closing a circular arena covered with sawdust. If 
you are not acquainted with the locality and wish 
to ascertain where the " pit " is situated, you have 
only to do what you would be likely to in our 
country in order to find the whereabouts of the 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 1^9 

most popular preacher — follow the crowd! They 
say, in truth, that in most places in Puerto Rico, 
especially in the small towns, you have only to fol- 
low the priest, who, as soon as services are over, 
tucks up his cassock, whips a favourite cock under 
his arm, and ^' streaks it " for the arena! 

A fee of twenty-five cents gives general ad- 
mission, but an additional dollar secures a box seat, 
or palcOy where you may be free from intrusion and 
where you will bless your stars that you are not 
down amongst that fighting, swearing, altogether 
disreputable crowd below; for it is a rough and 
noisy collection of all sorts of Puerto Riquenos, and 
for Babel-like sounds and confusion generally not 
even the redoubtable stock exchange can equal it. 
You are sure to be surprised at several things, if this 
be your first visit to the valla: the amount of bet- 
ting that goes on, despite the apparent confusion; 
the quiet manner in which all bets are settled, when 
you fully expected to see a score of contestants 
weltering in their gore; the smallness of the birds 
and the amount of pluck they possess to the square 
inch, and the skill, even science, requisite to be- 
come a first-class manipulator of fighting cocks. 

A common sight in the streets of San Juan, 
early in the morning, is that of numerous game- 
cocks staked out by short strings to pegs driven 



180 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

into the sidewalks. There they seem to imagine 
themselves strictly in evidence, and keep up a crow- 
ing to inform their neighbours that they are as 
good as anybody else, if not a little better. If by 
chance one of the cocks gets loose there is soon a 
dead bird for somebody to pay for. The birds are 
as carefully groomed as any blooded horse, and a 
part of their keepers' duty is to keep them in fine 
fettle for fighting. To see their owners pass along, 
from one to another, and give each one a " morn- 
ing refresher " is one of the sights of San Juan. 
First, taking one of the cocks up in his hands (after 
having filled his mouth wdth water), he lifts each 
wing successively and squirts a fine stream beneath, 
as a Chinese laundryman dampens his linen; then 
he does the same to the head and neck, and care- 
fully deposits the cock on the pavement. Thus 
each one has his " pick-me-up-in-the-morning," 
which is considered as essential to his health as a 
cocoanut cocktail is to his owner's. 

In the various market places of Puerto Rico 
you will see numberless fowl in wicker coops, the 
air always resounding with their challenges and 
counter-challenges of defiance. Even the negro on 
the corner who sells dulces and refrescos is likely to 
have a rooster tied by a string to his stool, and will 
bet his " bottom dollar " upon that bird's invincibil- 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 181 

ity and pedigree. The while he has nothing to do — 
which is pretty much all the time — he devotes to 
the " education '' of his pet. The peripatetic vender 
of various articles — such, for instance, as the seller 
of bread (who goes about with a basketful on his 
head and another in one hand of queer-looking, 
twisted loaves and rolls) — probably has a gamecock 
in a corner, which he will produce the moment 
any one is willing to match him. All the while he 
is crying out, ''^ Party 'pan, no quiere pan? ^^ — 
"Bread, bread, don't you want any bread?" — he 
has one eye out for a prospective set-to between his 
bird and some other. 

But to return to the cockpit. After the crowd 
has gathered, the first business transacted is the 
weighing of the birds. It is usually done by a 
dignified, spectacled old gentleman, white-haired or 
bald (at least old enough to know better), and with 
an air of benevolence, who takes each bird sepa- 
rately, and carefully slinging it in a bandana, 
hitches it to one arm of a balance scale and notes 
its fighting weight with great exactness. It will 
certainly remind the American observer of that 
popular piece of statuary, usually found in the par- 
lour of every first-class boarding house, known as 
" Weighing the Baby." But in this instance the 

old grocer with the Benjamin Franklin cast of 
13 



182 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

eountenance, who peers tlirougli liis glasses so mild- 
ly, is the umpire, and the rooster takes the place 
of the baby! Surely no infant ever received 
such attention from fond parent as this skinny 
bird, with its plucked neck and back, and tail de- 
prived of its chief ornamental plumes. He is cod- 
dled and cuddled as though worth his weight in 
gold — as he is, for the average price of a bird of 
fair quality only is from fifteen to twenty dollars, 
and there are not many for sale at any price what- 
ever. 

The manner of play is always settled before the 
fight begins, as to whether it shall be de cuchillo 
— literally, with knives or gaffs, sharp and terrible 
— or at pico — without artificial spurs. These pre- 
liminaries arranged, each man takes his bird to 
the middle of the arena, and placing him in position 
lets him go, facing the enemy. There is no hesi- 
tation on the part of either combatant, and the 
feathers fly at once. The contestants are small, 
but game to the backbone, and are only separated 
when one or the other is completely exhausted. 
This seldom happens before one of them has an eye 
gouged out, or his neck and head laid bare and 
bleeding to the bone. 

And all this takes place in the midst of a per- 
fect pandemonium of howls and yells, which sub- 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 183 

side the moment each pair has fought it out, when 
the bets are paid punctiliously and in order. Each 
bird has his backer, like a pugilist in a prize fight; 
also there is an umpire, to whom appeals are fre- 
quently made. Exact and known rules regulate 
proceedings, and wounded birds are allowed to be 
succoured under certain conditions. Perhaps a 
cock may become temporarily blinded by dust or 
blood. He is then tenderly raised by his backer 
and a little rum or alum water squirted through a 
quill into his eyes. 

^o pair is removed until one of the twain is 
dead or dying, and even then, with the defeated 
cock gasping in his death agonies, the victor hangs 
to him to the last. The winner has hardly time to 
crow exultantly — which he is sure to do — when he 
is taken aw^ay to make room for another pair, 
equally eager, equally full of fight; one of them, 
perhaps both, destined to be laid prone and mangled 
on the saw^dust. 

^o, there may be more noise, display, and blus- 
ter in the bullfight; there may be more gore, more 
risk to the human participant; but there is some- 
thing lacking there which the cockfight supplies. 
It is found in the pitting together of two creatures 
to whom the fight is mutually interesting, while in 
the case of the bullfight the enjoyment is pretty 



184 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

mucli all on one side. As tiie old squire said of 
fox hunting: ''The horses like it; the dogs like 
it; the men like it; and, egad, we don't know but 
that the fox likes it, too! " 

There is some doubt about the bull's perfect 
enjoyment in being prodded by picador eSy goaded 
by capeadoreSy tormented by handerilleroSy etc., let 
alone the play of the espada until he doesn't know 
whether he is on his head or his heels; but there 
is no doubt whatever as to the zest with which 
two gamecocks spring at each other's throat and 
proceed at once to feather pulling and blood- 
letting. 

The most approved pastime here, as in Spain, is 
the noble game of bull-fighting, but as the natives 
usually lack the means to encourage the importation 
of a good " line " of fighters, human and taurine, 
they have to console themselves with the fowls, 
^ow and then an opera company is induced to make 
a venture here; the theatre always has its devotees, 
and local musical societies extend and swell the har- 
monies evoked by the ever-present military band, 
which frequently plays in the plazas. 

It may be needless to add that, being of Spanish 
origin, the people of Puerto Eico are extremely 
fond of music. Here, as in Spain, may be seen 
numerous strolling bands of guitar and mandolin 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 185 

players, and at evening time the air is filled with 
music. Peculiar to the island, indeed, is a certain 
instrument which, though by courtesy called 
^^ musical, '^ yet may not seem so to the unaccus- 
tomed ear. This is the '^ guira '' — pronounced 
liuirra — a native gourd, a foot or two feet long, 
with a triangular hole cut into the inner curve of its 
neck, and its back scarified with notches extending 
half way around and two thirds its length. 

This gourd has its recognised place in every na- 
tive ^' band," for in the hands of an expert, a rhyth- 
mic, swishing sound is produced by the rubbing of 
the scarified surface with a two-tined steel fork, or 
even an umbrella rib. The sound evoked accen- 
tuates and adds volume to the music, and when one 
has become accustomed to the noise (something like 
the soft shufile of feet on a sanded floor), the effect 
is far from disagreeable. 

Although the Americans, meaning the inhab- 
itants of the United States, have a world-wide repu- 
tation for the concocting of insidious and palate- 
tickling beverages, we must turn to the tropics for 
the greatest variety of cooling " refreshers.'' While 
our summer is a season of short duration, and really 
hot weather is at best but intermittent, below the 
line of 23° 28' north latitude, or within the tropics, 



186 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

" perpetual siimnier '' is indeed no mere figure of 
speech. 

The hotter the climate in which man dwells, 
of course the more he is prone to drink, and it fol- 
lows, as a matter of course, that people who have 
dwelt a long time in a tropical region should have 
a greater variety and more attractive assortment 
of tipples than those who have only a taste of warm 
weather interlarded between long spaces of winter 
cold. Where, then, Old Sol reigns with undis- 
puted sway, as in the West Indies, the perspiring 
people are " driven to drink," though not neces- 
sarily to drunkenness. 

In the " great houses " of the old planters, now 
so lamentably few, the well-stocked sideboard is 
vastly more than a tradition. It is ever in evi- 
dence, and is the first article of furniture which 
greets the eyes of the thirsty traveller as he enters 
the hospitable mansion, tired and heated from a 
long ride in the sun. 

The planter's wife, or his housekeeper, has al- 
ready anticipated the stranger's desires and com- 
pounded a pitcher of drink ere he has landed at 
the door. Immediately after the introduction and 
before being taken away by his host to remove the 
dust from his garments, the newly-arrived is invited 
to wash the dust from his throat. If it be late 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 18Y 

in the afternoon and dinner be near at liand — as all 
good travellers fervently pray may be the case — 
into the pitcher is inserted a queer-looking stick 
about a foot and a half in length and with spread- 
ing prongs at the " business end." This is twirled 
about rapidly between the perpendicular palms of 
the host or hostess, until the contents of the jorum 
are stirred to a froth, and then the stick is with- 
drawn and the liquid poured out — to be sent 
'^ where it will do the most good." 

The drink — well, it may be a gin or brandy 
cocktail, or the more insidious " shrub " or "ca- 
shew " punch, but whatever it is it will be worth 
the imbibing, as an experiment if nothing more. As 
for the stick, it is called a " swizzler," and may be 
bought in the market place of any of the more 
southe2Ti West Indian islands, such as Guadeloupe, 
St. Lucia, or Barbados. It is found in the fields 
and forests and brought in for sale by old women 
and children. It is slender and straight, with four 
or five prongs at one end, sticking out at right an- 
gles to the stem, and from its peculiar shape is 
used as an egg-beater and to intimately mix the in- 
gredients of cocktails and the like. It creates, even 
in plain drinks, a peculiar froth, owing to the mu- 
cilaginous quality of the cambium layer, or inner 
bark, which is left on when the stick is peeled. 



188 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Thus does ]N^atiire provide for bibulous man in 
those regions where he is inclined to imbibe the 
most and where there is no " liquor law " to inter- 
fere with her generous provisions. 

The Cubans and Puerto Ricans are remarkably 
abstemious, and those of Spanish birth, especially 
of the poorer class, eat little and drink less. But 
there is one thing in which they have well-nigh 
reached perfection, and that is the art of concoct- 
ing " soft '^ drinks. If they may follow out their 
inclination and ancient custom, they begin the day 
with a cup of black coffee or chocolate, the latter 
so thick that it may be eaten with a fork, and per- 
haps accompanied by a small roll or thin biscuit. 
During the heat of the day the natives drink spar- 
ingly, but after the cool breezes of evening have 
set in the cafes are crowded with the seekers after 
refrescos, or cooling beverages. A refresco is lit- 
erally a " refresher," generally in shape of a limo- 
nada (limeade) or naranjada (orangeade), while 
the favourite with the fair sex is the orchata (sweet- 
ened and diluted milk of almonds), and a drink 
made by dipping into water small rolls composed 
of the white of egg and sugar, and called panales. 

The lower-orders content themselves with a mild 
tipple of barley water (cehada) or la chicha, which 
is water with toasted corn and sugar in it; zambum- 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 189 

hia is diluted cane juice, as aguardiente (or fire 
water) is the same juice distilled, vulgarly known 
in English as rum. Another drink, a sort of sweet 
beer, is made from fermented pineapple rinds and 
is very delicious. 

Better drink nothing stronger than chocolate 
before noon; or, still better, nothing stronger at 
all! In Cuba and Puerto Rico the people rarely 
indulge in anything stronger than the vino Cata- 
lan; at balls*and parties, champagne. Though they 
drink early, some of them, and many of them often, 
it is chiefly of harmless beverages. In the French 
and English islands there are many who begin the 
day with a cocoanut and gin cocktail as an " eye 
opener," follow it with native rum at intervals, and 
end with ale or beer, brandy and champagne. The 
most healthful drink, the English "West Indian will 
tell you, is rum, but not less than three years old. 
It has no " pernicious effects," he says, if sufiiciently 
matured, and it is a tradition in the islands that rum 
will not improve with age even, unless it is kept 
in " the wood." 

There is a wide range to the tropic tipples, the 
basis of most of them being the distilled juice of 
the sugar-cane, and there are delicious " punches " 
innumerable. One of the most nectareous of these 
concoctions is the " cashew punch," which is made 



190 PUERTO fllCO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

by mixing the fragrant juice of the acajou with, 
sugar (quantum suf.), rum (quantum lihet), and 
served with a grating of aromatic nutmeg floating 
atop. It is a drink too good for the gods, the West 
Indians say, but just the thing for bibulous man. 
In the olden time, when every planter distilled 
his own rum*, a certain delightful liquor called 
'^ shrub '' was in vogue, the basis of which was rum, 
with one fourth its weight of sugar added to it, and 
one sixteenth lime juice. But both " shrub " and 
planter, so racy of the West Indian soil, will be 
difficult to find, alas! at the present time, in Cuba 
and Puerto Eico. 

Water, the natives say, numbers more victims 
than rum, and while that of the mountain streams 
may be pure and potable, one should use with cau- 
tion the agua of the towns and cities. Even if it has 
been filtered through the great porous drip-stones, 
which every house possesses, it is not always safe to 
drink. The fevers and various intestinal diseases 
from which our soldiers suffered, were mainly 
caused by drinking impure water. 

Perhaps the strangest sight of the Puerto Eican 
market is the beast of burden, either horse or don- 
key, but always small and half starved, entirely 
covered by a heap of grass or fodder. The native 
horse has been taught to turn up his nose at any- 



FOODS, DUINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 191 

thing in the shape of oats or grain of any kind, 
his regular rations consisting of green grass and 
fodder from a peculiar species of corn, which is 
raised exclusively for its tops, which are sweet and 
succulent, and known as maloja. The malojero, 
as the small farmer furnishing the fodder is called, 
comes from a long distance out in the country, 
riding atop his beastie's burden, and looking 
something like a monkey on an ambulatory corn 
stack. These malojeros are the most numerous 
attendants at the market places, for every owner of 
a horse or jackass in town or city must have his ma- 
tutinal maloja, and is actually dependent upon the 
arrival of the countryman for it. 

'Next in point of numbers are the milkmen, 
who likewise ride on top their loads, or, rather, 
astride, between their cans, coming in at a jerky 
trot, which, with the terrible heat of the morning 
hour, serves to stir the leche into butyric consist- 
ency. The lecliero never dismounts, but rides up 
in front of a customer's house and shouts ^^ Leche ! '' 
in a voice fit to wake the dead, smoking his ciga- 
rette the while he ladles out the liquid from be- 
tween his legs, his feet level with the horse's ears. 
Sometimes the cow is driven to your door, and 
milked on the spot. 

After the milkman comes the baker, who dispen- 



192 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

ses the product of his ovens from the back of horse 
or burro, and is not seemingly happy unless he has 
sat all the morning on the bag of bread which he 
brings along for sale. 

But the panadero is a sweet and savory spec- 
tacle compared with the butcher, the carnicero, 
who drags reeking carcasses into town, wobbling 
gruesomely in a cart, or more frequently hanging 
from hooks in frames on horseback. All the mata- 
deroSy or slaughterhouses, are outside the city limits, 
with troops of wild dogs and turkey buzzards (the 
local scavengers) fighting and snarling over entrails 
and garbage. 

Then there is the chicken vender, who brings 
his cargo of fowl to market in great wicker coops 
slung across the back of his beast, he himseK sit- 
ting, as usual, astride between. There is no society 
for the prevention of cruelty to animals in any 
Spanish country, and every man may do what 
seems to him best with anything he owns. 

Housekeeping in the West Indies is not with- 
out its drawbacks, as may be inferred from the 
mention already made of insects, such as ants and 
flies, which invade every house, at some time or 
other, the constant heat, lack of ice and cool water, 
and of many modern conveniences. In the country 
districts ice is never thought of as an adjunct to the 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 193 

liousehold " outfit," or even as a liixTiry. The style 
of cooking is tliat of old Spain, over a small pot or 
brazier of charcoal, while roasts, steaks, and chops 
are less in vogue than stews or ragouts. And it is a 
strange inconsistency that moves the otherwise neat 
and careful householder to have the kitchen, cis- 
tern, and cesspool nearly always contiguous! One 
should never invade the Spanish kitchen unless 
proof against all squeamishness regarding the prep- 
aration of food. There are exceptions, but they are 
rare, in which the kitchens and sculleries are 
scrupulously clean. 

The writer has partaken of foods cooked in 
Spain, in Mexico, in Cuba, South America, and 
Puerto Rico, and can not aver that there is any 
appreciable difference in their preparation. To 
ascertain, then, the probable menu that will be 
placed before you at the hotel or boarding-house, 
it is only necessary to acquaint yourself with the 
Spanish style of cooking, which is a modified 
French, with many courses, savoury soups, light 
wines, numerous condiments, and fruits. 

The business man goes to work in the morning 
with merely a cup of coffee, or coffee and a bis- 
cuit, to stay him until the first real meal of the 
day, which is the almuerzo, or breakfast, and usu- 
ally served from eleven to twelve. This is a sub- 



194 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

stantial repast, of five or six courses, ending witli 
coffee and cigarettes, perhaps with a dash of rum, 
before or after the coffee. Dinner — comida — is 
eaten at six or seven o'clock, differing from break- 
fast only in being somewhat more substantial and 
prolonged, during which French clarets and Span- 
ish wines are concomitants, and terminating with 
the inevitable black coffee and cigars or cigarettes. 
A commendable custom prevails in Cuba and 
Puerto Rico, among the business men, of taking 
the morning meal with their clerks, at a long table 
spread in a veranda or corridor of their establish- 
ment. 

Between meals, or from about noon to three or 
four o'clock in the afternoon, all Puerto Eico in- 
dulges in the recuperative siesta^ during which 
time it is as easy to drive a flourishing business in 
a cemetery as to attempt it in the commercial por- 
tion of a town or city. All tropical dwellers are 
early risers; the principal business of the day is 
transacted in the morning, the afternoon being de- 
voted mainly to social calls, the clubs, casinos, prom- 
enades, and the evening also to recreation. Thus 
they have established a certain system in their daily 
duties, which doubtless, by its absence of friction, 
by insuring them against haste and worry, tends to 
the preservation of health and prolongation of life. 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 195 

In this survey of the West Indian household 
we should not overlook an important member, or 
rather adjunct, of it, the washerwoman. She is 
just as black as she is painted, and that is usually 
very black indeed. Her hand is against every man, 
and every man's hand ought to be against her, for 
she maltreats man's belongings — his shirts and his 
cuffs and collars — in a manner that is fearful to be- 
hold. She lives on the outskirts of civilization, 
and has no recognised status in society. ISTo one 
knows whence she comes; but there she is, wait- 
ing for the steamer to land, and with an overgrown 
lad or stout boatman to assist her to seize and carry 
away your soiled linen and cast-off clothing. If 
any article is particularly nice or valuable, she 
appropriates that as her perquisite, or else so des- 
perately mauls it that it returns to you having no 
semblance to anything you ever saw before, least 
of all to anything you ever possessed. 

She has no washtub, no scrubbing board, and 
sometimes no soap, some native roots or berries 
serving in lieu of the last. But she carries the po- 
liceman's weapon — a club — and wields it in a way 
that would put one of the '^ finest " to the blush. 

It is early morning when, having secured a pile 
of linen intrusted to her care by some guileless and 
inoffensive man, she slowly wends her way to the 



196 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

nearest river, or to the sea, with the bundle on her 
head. If, perchance, she carries a tub, it is one she 
has borrowed, and is taken along not for use, but 
merely as a " guarantee of good faith." She de- 
posits her burden on the bank of the stream or shore 
of the sea, and then fills and lights her pipe. 
Others of her kind and persuasion come along, 
who fill their pipes and then sit down for a social 
confab. The ways and means of defeating the ends 
and aims of civilization are the chief topics of con- 
versation, and when these are exhausted the real 
object of their mission — to destroy as many as pos- 
sible of the garments intrusted to their care — is 
commenced. The washerwoman is gregarious, and 
she flocks as much as possible with her own sex and 
profession. 

Each one has near her a broad, smooth stone, 
upon which she spreads out a portion of the day's 
catch, and then proceeds to reduce it to a pulpy, 
indistinguishable mass. She souses it in the stream, 
slams it against the rocks, then, having soaped it 
well, she falls to with her club. 'Not a button 
escapes, not a hole in any one unfortunate garment 
that is not made larger and wider! The sound of 
blows, delivered with fatal effect, proclaims the 
scene of conflict, and may be heard from afar. !N^o 
mere mortal man has ever been known to witness 



FOODS, DRINKS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. 197 

the fray and return to tell the tale without emo- 
tion. After the clothes are sufficiently soused and 
mutilated they are wrung dry, spread out on the 
stones or on a thorny cactus, and left to bleach in 
the sun. The rougher the stones or the thornier 
the cactus bush the better, in the estimation of the 
laundress. 

Then she takes home her handiwork, throws it 
into a corner, where the pickaninnies sleep on it a 
few nights, and finally has the hardihood to present 
a claim to the owner of the linen for damages. 
Lafcadio Hearn, who has written sympathetic 
sketches of the Creoles, draws a pathetic picture 
of the trials and tribulations of the washerwoman. 
She is exposed, he says, to the heat of the tropical 
sun by day, standing knee deep in the water of chill 
mountain streams; she is often the victim of tor- 
rential rains and hurricanes; her skin is baked to a 
turn, and the clothes she guards washed away by 
the rising flood. 



14 



XIV. 
THE INDIANS OF PUERTO RICO. 

There are no Indians now in Puerto Rico, 
tliongli at one time, before the coming of the Span- 
iards, it has been estimated thej existed here to 
the number of more than a million. Just why the 
conquistadores should have set out to extermi- 
nate the original inhabitants of the island, it is dif- 
ficult to say, but probably from an inherent " cuss- 
edness.'^ They were pious, these early discoverers 
of America, and they wanted all the Indians they 
came in contact with to be pious also; and as the 
latter could not understand the mysteries of the 
newcomers' religion, they paid the penalty in ex- 
termination. To adapt that much-quoted and 
misleading couplet anent the landing of the Pilgrim 
Fathers : 

The conquistadores fell on their knees ; 
Then they fell on the aborigines ! 

Commencing at the very beginnings of Puerto 
Rican history, going back to that eventful year, 
1493, in which the island was discovered: we have 
198 



THE INDIANS OF PUERTO RICO. 199 

it, on tlie authority of the Spaniards themselves, 
that the aboriginal peoples of the West Indies were 
all very cleanly and attentive to the care of their 
persons. And that they bathed early and bathed 
often may have been the real cause of Spanish dis- 
like, for if there is any antipathy that is racial, it is 
said to be that of the Dons against the general use 
of water in ablution I Says a Spanish historian, 
writing of the Moors and the conquest of Granada : 
" Water seems more necessary to these infidels than 
bread, for they make use of it in repeated daily 
ablutions, enjoined by their damnable religion, and 
employ it in baths, and in a thousand other idle and 
extravagant modes, of which we Spaniards and 
Christians make but little account! " 

It has been stated that the Spaniard looked 
upon an " altogether '' bath, or " tub," as a sort 
of extreme unction, to be taken, if at all, but once 
in a lifetime. This may be a slander ; but does not 
history inform us of a certain Spanish queen who 
vowed not to change her linen until a city her 
forces were then besieging should be taken, and 
who kept her vow, though the siege lasted a year ? 

But, be this as it may, the natives of Puerto 
Eico went about nearly naked, yet unashamed, and 
virtuous — until the coming of the Spaniards. And, 
as they bathed frequently and were, exteriorly at 



200 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

least, cleanly and wliolesomej tlie Spaniards looked 
upon this as a reproach. They might, the Span- 
iards reasoned, have clean and shining countenances, 
but they gave no thought to their souls' salvation; 
hence they were, in all probability, inwardly cor- 
rupt and unclean, therefore fit subjects for exter- 
mination; and exterminated they were, accord- 
ingly. 

The natives of all the Greater Antilles were 
considered as of the same stock, and probably de- 
scended from the Arrowacks of Guiana, in South 
America, " a race of Indians to whose noble quali- 
ties the most honourable testimony is borne; and 
here all inquiry concerning the origin of our island- 
ers seems to terminate.'' At the time of the Span- 
ish discovery, the historian Las Casas computed 
them at more than six million; but this, probably, 
is an exaggerated estimate. Those of Hispaniola, 
or Santo Domingo, Oviedo estimated at one mil- 
lion and Peter Martyr at one million two hundred 
thousand. They were, indeed, so numerous, says 
Las Casas, that the islands swarmed with Indians 
as an ant-hill with ants! Bryan Edwards, the his- 
torian of Jamaica, compares them with the Otahe- 
ites, " with whom they seem to have many qualities 
in common." They cultivated large areas in maize 
and manioc, made immense canoes from the cedar 



THE INDIANS OF PUERTO RICO. 201 

and ceiba trees, whicli they gunwaled and pitched 
with bitumen or natural asphaltum. They wore 
a cotton girdle around the waist, while the cannibal 
Caribs of the more southern islands went entirely 
naked. They were of good shape and stature, but 
less robust and valiant than the Caribs, and their 
colour darker, being a deep, clear brown. All the 
islanders compressed the heads of infants artifici- 
ally, but in a different manner : " The Caribs ele- 
vated the forehead, making the head look like two 
sides of a square; but the natives of the larger 
islands compressed the occiput, rendering the 
crown of the head so thick that a Spanish broad- 
sword would sometimes break upon it." The prac- 
tice of the Spanish settlers of making this a test 
of skill at sword-play — as to which of them could 
most skilfully crack open an Indian's skull, or 
neatly decapitate him — is a speaking commentary 
on the brutality of those first Spaniards in these 
islands. In addition to this playful manner of dis- 
posing of the redskins, they sometimes burned them 
alive, and roasted them over slow fires, as witnessed 
against them by their own ecclesiastical teacher, 
Las Casas. 

These things are mentioned merely as showing 
some of the causes of extermination; although the 
ultimate and perhaps chief cause was the excessive 



202 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

labour in tlie mines, initiated by Columbus himself. 
And yet, says Martyr, " theirs was an honest coun- 
tenance, coarse, but not gloomy, for it was enliv- 
ened by confidence and softened by compassion." 
"We know that they had native songs and hymns^ 
called arietos; an idea of a Deity, and a multitude 
of minor gods; that they made articles of pottery, 
common vessels, as well as some with unique adorn- 
ments, hammocks, huts, and chairs of wood and 
stone. When BartholomcAv Columbus visited 
the Indian queen, Anacoana, he was presented with 
fourteen chairs of ebony, and sixty earthen vessels 
" ornamented with fantastic figures of li\T.ng 
animals." 

They obtained and wrought the native gold 
from mountain streams, and it was the Spaniards' 
lust for gold that rang their death-knell, for 
all the Indians were divided into encomiendas 
and repartimientos, for labour in the field and 
mines. Without entering into further details: in 
fifteen years the Spaniards reduced the Indians of 
Santo Domingo from more than a million to less 
than sixty thousand; and in 1585 Sir Francis 
Drake reported not an Indian alive. 

Said a celebrated French professor to a resident 
of this island only a few years ago : " The most 
acceptable present you can make our museum is a 



THE INDIANS OF PUERTO RICO. 203 

skull of one of tlie aborigines of yonr island, for 
there is not one in all Europe to-day! '' 

However true this statement may be, it is cer- 
tain that crania from Santo Domingo and Puerto 
Kico are desiderata in our own museums, though 
the writer has found them at different times. AH 
the remarks anent these Indians will apply to the 
aborigines of Puerto Pico, who were of the same 
stock and ultimately shared their fate. Though ly- 
ing near to the island of Santo Domingo, and 
separated from it by a narrow channel, Puerto Rico 
was not discovered by Columbus until his second 
voyage, and not settled before 1508 or 1509. 
Ponce de Leon, who afterward became famous 
through his search for the Fountain of Youth, 
landed there and overran the island with his sol- 
diers, finding a people similar to the Dominicans, 
cultivators of the soil and following the pursuits of 
peace. 

It was not many years before these innocent In- 
dians had gone the way of the others, and the popu- 
lous country was devastated. The last of them 
perished long ago, so long that not even tradition 
can inform us accurately as to the uses of the hun- 
dreds of articles they once manufactured and left 
behind them. But, of all the West Indian aborig- 
ines, they were the farthest advanced in the crude 



204 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

arts of primitive liunianity. Their pottery is Hglily 
ornamental, their stone implements, of warfare and 
husbandry, are uniqne; '^ their implements of in- 
dustry, so far as we have recovered them, are the 
most beautiful in the world; their artists were 
prodigies in design and workmanship." 

One of the most complete collections in the 
world, illustrating the arts and economy of ancient 
Americans, is the assemblage of Puerto Eican an- 
tiquities in the Smithsonian Institution at "Wash- 
ington, a gift of the late George Latimer, of San 
Juan. Mr. Latimer was a resident merchant, who 
for many years collected all the aboriginal antiqui- 
ties he could find, and finally sent them to Wash- 
ington, a priceless gift to his country's capital. 
This collection was long ago the subject of a mono- 
graph by the talented Prof. O. T. Mason, who 
published, in 1877, this most valuable contribution 
to ethnographical literature, fully illustrated. 

Although the common " celts " and ordinary 
stone implements are found elsewhere, yet there 
are several types found nowhere else in the world. 
These are the so-called ^^ mammiform stones " and 
" collars." The mammiform stones are most sug- 
gestive of a human form buried under a mountain, 
with head and feet protruding. The name was sug- 
gested by the conical or conoid prominence in 



THE INDIANS OF PUERTO RICO. 205 

the centre, and of course is wholly arbitrary; but 
to any one who has seen the rounded and pyramidal 
hills of Puerto Rico, the resemblance is very evi- 
dent. 

They are as truly sui generis as the " collars," 
which likewise are peculiar to this island, abso- 
lutely unique, and receive their appellation from 
their resemblance to horse collars, though of stone. 
Some of these syenite collars weigh as much as sixty- 
five pounds each, and are from nineteen to twenty- 
three inches in length and from fifteen to seventeen 
in breadth. Many specimens are shown in the 
Smithsonian collection, in various stages of elabora- 
tion, but the majority are beautifully finished and 
polished, with bosses and panels, sometimes on one 
side and sometimes on the other. This peculiarity 
of ornamentation has given rise to the distinction of 
" right- and left-shouldered " collars, presuming 
that they may have served some use in pairs. 

Just what that use was no one can tell, the 
historians being silent on the subject, while the early 
Spaniards were too busy prodding the live Indians, 
to concern themselves about the dead ones and 
their arts. But an old priest once told the writer, 
when in Puerto Rico, that the Indians made these 
collars for the purpose of having them buried with 
them in their graves. They were the peculiar 



206 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

property of the caciques, and each workman spent 
nearly a lifetime in laboriously carving out a huge 
collar of stone, that when he died it might be placed 
over his head, on his breast, thus securely fasten- 
ing him down in his last resting-place, and defying 
the efforts of the devil to carry him away! 

In this explanation, however, one may detect 
the ecclesiastical intrusion; for no theologer, no 
matter of what belief, is entirely happy unless he 
can fasten upon an aboriginal people a firm belief 
in a devil, or some evil genius of the supernatural 
world. However, this explanation is as good as 
any, since no one, not even the ethnologist, has 
offered a better. The same may be said of the 
strange objects called " masks " or human faces 
ca]:ved of solid stone, and which, Professor Mason 
thinks, may have been used as club-heads or ban- 
ner stones. 

The aborigines of this island possessed the same 
animal and plant resources as those of Santo Do- 
mingo, the flora and fauna being similar, and their 
dwellings were formed from the same materials. 
In neither island are there remains of stately struc- 
tures, or any indications of buildings which were 
made of less perishable material than palm leaves 
or native woods. In both islands, also, the ab- 
original name — hohio — is still applied to the rude 



THE INDIANS OF PUERTO EICO. 207 

hut of palm wood thatched with leaves and grass, 
as distinguished from the more pretentious casa 
of the Spaniard and city dweller. It truth, many, 
if not most, of the names applied in Puerto Rico to 
towns, districts, woods, and plants, are directly de- 
rived from the aboriginal appellations. 

^Nevertheless, as already shown, not a single di- 
rect descendant of the millions, or many thousands, 
found at the time of discovery, remains in any 
island of the Greater Antilles. All have perished, 
root and branch, and have left behind only these 
mute memorials of their former existence here. 
All we have to instruct us, else, is the scant infor- 
mation to be gleaned from the pages of old his- 
torians, who at best could not appreciate the value 
of ethnological material, considered strictly as such. 
Only in a casual manner, and merely as incidental 
to the historical narrative, are we informed of the 
most valuable " finds '' (of Columbus, for instance) 
in America. The nation that destroyed the libra- 
ries of the Moors in Spain, and the picture-writings 
of the Aztecs in Mexico, has never shown any in- 
clination to preserve the memorials of Indians 
whom its soldiers and settlers combined to exter- 
minate. 



XV. 
A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 

!N"ow that Puerto Rico lias become a colonial 
dependency of the United States, there will never 
be any likelihood of future Spanish ownership of 
American islands, nor of Spanish fleets again cruis- 
ing in Hispano- American waters. It has taken four 
hundred years to deliver the two Americas from the 
misrule of Spain; but at last that deliverance has 
come, and the historic flag of Plispania will no 
longer float over forts and castles where for cen- 
turies it has been a familiar object, feared, hated, 
and revered. 

But, with the passing of Spanish authority, the 
best of Spain yet remains behind, for no other 
country of Europe could have furnished us with 
such a stock of romantic traditions and poetic asso- 
ciations as this land of Goth and Saracen. Her 
conquistadores came here fresh from the conquest 
of the Moors, and they brought with them not alone 
tales and traditions, but swords and arquebuses 

from the battlefields of Andalusia. The writer has 
208 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 209 

found, in Santo Domingo and Puerto Kico, and 
had the pleasure of bringing to the United States, 
veritable " Toledo blades," that had been fashioned 
on the banks, and tempered with the waters, of the 
golden Tagns. 

Thus we find the beginnings of Puerto Rican 
history invested with the glamour of Old "World 
association, for the great navigator, Columbus, dis- 
covered the island in 1493, and the great conquista- 
dor, Ponce de Leon, first visited it in 1508. Find- 
ing it inhabited by a docile and intelligent people, 
and receiving from the native cacique, Agueynaba, 
rich specimens of gold obtained from the river- 
beds, De Leon returned to Santo Domingo, only to 
revisit Puerto Rico the next year with soldiers and 
settlers for colonization. 

The first settlement was called Caparra, to-day 
known as the Pueblo Vie jo, and not far distant 
from the present capital, San Juan, for the site of 
which it was later abandoned. Caparra was 
founded in 1510, and the same year the Indians, 
though the most tractable of subjects under ordi- 
nary rule, rebelled against the atrocities committed 
by the Spaniards. They had given freely of their 
gold and provisions, had allowed the strangers to 
roam the island at will and choose sites for their 
towns; but when it became evident that these 



210 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

white men, who had come up out of the sea, were 
determined to reduce them to slavery, they re- 
volted. 

The Spaniards had told them, and at first they 
had believed, that the newcomers were immortal, 
sent from heaven for their edification; out soon 
the most observant of the Indians, and notably 
Cacique Agueynaba, had their doubts. At all 
events, they concluded that if the Spanish heaven 
was to be the abode of the Spanish settlers and sol- 
diers, they would have none of it. Agueynaba re- 
solved to test the alleged immortality of the Span- 
iards, and so, acting under his orders, one day two 
Indians captured a Spanish soldier, and held his 
head under water for two hours. Then they 
dragged him to the bank of the stream and sat by 
his side during two days, by which time it was 
so evident, even to the dull comprehension of a 
savage, that he was dead, that they reported the 
fact to their cacique. The very stream is known, 
and is pointed out to-day, where this interesting ex- 
periment, which led to such dire consequences for 
the Spaniards, was carried out. 

The Indians were brave enough, but they were 
always peacefully inclined; and, again, they were 
equipped only with bows and arrows, wooden 
spears and stone battle-axes, as against the Span- 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 211 

iards with their keen swords and terrible weapons 
spitting fire and smoke. In the insurrection that 
followed, though all the Spaniards found outside 
the town of Caparra were put to death, yet the In- 
dians were beaten and later driven to the mines, 
where the unaccustomed labours soon accomplished 
their extermination. 

That same year, or the year after, in 1512, the 
settlers took measures for the introduction of negro 
slaves from Africa to fill the places of the Indians 
killed in the mines and in the fields. 

In the year 1512, having put the settlement in 
good order. Governor Ponce de Leon sailed on that 
voyage through the Bahamas resulting in the dis- 
covery of Florida, which has immortalized his 
name. In the year 1521, after having great diffi- 
culties with the cannibal Caribs of the southern 
islands, and, in fact, having suffered defeat at their 
hands, De Leon again sailed northwardly, in quest 
of the fabled Fountain of Youth, which he had 
sought and failed to discover on his previous voyage. 
He found a soldier's grave only, for he was wound- 
ed by a poisoned arrow on the coast of Florida, taken 
to Havana, and died before he could reach Puerto 
Rico. His remains were carried thither, and in 
the city of San Juan they are preserved to-day, 
where also may be seen the house he built — ^the 



212 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Casa Blanca — and a monument erected to liis 
memory. 

The first settlers were terribly afflicted during 
tlieir stay at Caparra, for a visitation of ants, which 
drove them all from their houses, was soon followed 
by an epidemic of small-pox, and this by that dread 
disease, resulting from their excesses with the In- 
dians, the origin of which has been ascribed to the 
West Indian islands. In 1529 the town of San 
German was sacked and burned by French priva- 
teers, who committed great cruelties on the coast 
peoples, and the next year many settlers were car- 
ried off to be eaten by the Caribs. A romantic 
outcome of this invasion was the expedition for 
the recovery of the captives, led by the wife of an 
influential citizen, only to find that the chief pris- 
oner had been killed and probably devoured. 

It was not until 1516 or 1517 that English ves- 
sels first came into the Caribbean, being two ships 
of war under Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas 
Pert. Two years after that the first English trad- 
ing vessel arrived at Puerto Eico. Captain John 
Hawkins followed in 1565, and Captain Francis 
Drake in 1572, but no settlement was founded by 
either. It was during this audacious voyage of 
Drake's that the gallant seaman climbed a tree on 
the highest point of Darien, and saw for the first 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 213 

time the Paciiic Ocean, which he later sailed across, 
being knighted by Elizabeth on his return, in 1581. 
He was then engaged in the exciting sport of ^^ singe- 
ing the King of Spain's whiskers '' — in other words, 
of attacking his ships in home ports and harrying 
the harbours of his foreign possessions. It was his 
shrewd policy, in attacking and destroying so 
many of the Spanish storeships in the harbour of 
Cadiz, that delayed the '' invincible Armada,'' 
which was fitted out by Philip II to invade Eng- 
land, and aided in accomplishing its ultimate de- 
struction. 

As the Spanish settlements of South America 
increased, and from the interior country as well as 
across the isthmus, from the mines of Peru, came 
vast treasures of gold and silver, which were taken 
to Spain in slow-sailing galleons. Sir Francis and 
his companion freebooters had most royal sport and 
royal plunder. As early as 1563, or the year be- 
fore Shakespeare was born, Hawkins made a profit- 
able voyage to Guinea and back, bringing to the 
West Indies a cargo of slaves. He was the original 
slaver, as his friend and kinsman, Drake, was the 
original royal freebooter. In the interim of his 
slaving voyages he sacked and bombarded Spanish 
cities in the Caribbean, or bombarded them first and 
sacked them afterward, and Drake did the same. 

15 



214 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

This pair of precious privateers made the Caribbean 
Sea an exceedingly warm place for the Spanish gal- 
leons, and for the Spanish settlements as well. 

The Spanish ships and settlements afforded 
glorious sport for Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh, and 
all that rollicking crew of adventurers, for many 
years, until they wearied the King of Spain to the 
extent that he fitted out the great armada. Then, 
indeed, these old sea lions had Philip " on the hip," 
for they worried and harried those big sea castles 
and bulky galleons until, of the sixscore and more 
which sailed so gallantly out of the port of Cadiz, 
in the summer of 1588, intent upon the wiping of 
England from the map of nations — ^what with the 
assistance of the elements — not threescore ever 
gained Spanish port again. And with the Spanish 
ships, so with the Spanish islands: one by one they 
fell into the hands of the British lion, until, of all 
those which once dotted the western seas, not one 
remained save Cuba and Puerto Eico; and these 
have now fallen to a scion of the lion, who inherits 
all his thrift, and, 'tis said, also his courage at sea 
and on land ! 

In 1586 Drake was commissioned by Queen 
Elizabeth to do all the harm he could to Spanish 
shipping, and he again chose the Caribbean Sea as 
the theatre of his exploits. It would have sorely 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 215 

wounded the dignity of either Sir Francis, or his 
kinsman Sir John Hawkins, had they been classed 
with the pirates of that day and later, but so the 
Spaniards viewed them, and so their contemporaries 
called them. The last voyage of both these wor- 
thies was made in company, and both were dead 
before it terminated. Both were buried at sea, 
Hawkins off the eastern end of Puerto Eico and 
Drake off a j)ort of the Spanish Main. 

The fitting out and equipment of this expedi- 
tion were not surpassed by that of 1585. Its des- 
tination in the first place was intended for Puerto 
Rico, where the Queen (Elizabeth) had received 
information that a vast treasure had been brought, 
intended to be sent thence for the use of the King 
of Spain in completing the third grand armament 
(the second, the Armada, having been destroyed by 
Drake) which he had in contemplation for the in- 
vasion of England. 

The expedition left Plymouth August 28, 
1595. . . . On the 30th of September the Fran- 
cis, being of Sir John Hawkins's division, a bark 
of thirty-five tons, was chased by five of the king's 
frigates, or zahras — being ships of two hundred 
tons — which came for the treasure at San Juan de 
Puerto Rico. The Francis, mistaking them for 
companions, was taken in sight of our caravels. 
The Spaniards, indifferent to human suffering, left 
her driving in the sea, with three or four hurt or 



216 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

sick men, and took the rest of her people into their 
ships and returned to San Juan. 

The squadron intended to pass through the 
Virgin Islands, but here, says Hakluyt, " Sir John 
Hawkins was extreme sick, which his sickness be- 
gan upon neues of the taking of the Francis." Re- 
maining here two days, they tarried two days more 
in a sound (Sir Francis Drake's Channel) which 
Drake in his barge had discovered. They then 
stood for the eastern end of Puerto Rico, where Sir 
John Hawkins breathed his last. 

Sir Thomas Baskerville now took possession of 
the Garland, as second in command. The fleet 
came to anchor at a distance of two miles or less 
from the eastern side of the town of San Juan, 
where, says Hakluyt, " we received from their forts 
and places where they planted ordnance, some 
twenty-eight great shot, the last of which stroke 
the Admiral's ship, through the misen, and the last 
but one stroke her through the quarter into the 
steerage; the Greneral being there at supper, and 
stroke the stool from under him, but hurt him not; 
but hurt at the same table Sir Mcholas Clifford, 
Mr. Browne, Capt. Stratford, with one or two 
more. Sir Mcholas Clifford and Master Browne 
died of these hurts." 

Drake was certainly imprudent in suffering his 
squadron to take up anchorage so near to the means 
of annoyance, but his former visit had no doubt 
taught the enemy the prudence of being better pre- 
pared for any future occasion, and it is somewhat 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 217 

remarkable that Drake should not have observed 
his usual caution. Browne was an old and particu- 
lar favourite of his. 

The following morning the whole fleet came to 
anchor before the point of the town without the 
harbour, where they remained till nightfall, and 
then twenty-five pinnaces, boats, and shallops, well- 
manned and furnished with fireworks and small 
shot, entered the roadstead. . . . The great castle, 
or galleon, the object of the present enterprise, had 
been completely repaired and was on the point of 
sailing when certain intelligence of the intended 
attack by Drake reached the island. Then the 
whole of the treasure was landed — said to amount 
to four million dollars — the galleon was sunk at the 
mouth of the harbour, a floating barrier of masts 
and spars was laid on each side of her, near to the 
forts and castles, so as to render the entrance im- 
passable; within this breakwater were moored five 
zahras, all the women and infirm people moved to 
the interior, and those only left in town who were 
capable to aid in its defence. 

A heavy fire was opened on the English ships, 
but the adventurers persisted in their attempt until 
they had lost, by their own account, some forty or 
fifty men killed and as many wounded; but there 
was consolation in the thought that, by burning, 
drowning, and killing, the loss of the Spaniards 
could not be less — in fact, a great deal more, for 
the five zabras and a large ship of four hundred 
tons were burnt, and their several cargoes of silk, 
oil, and wine destroyed. 



218 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS EESOURCES. 

Defeated in tlieir main object, but not disheart- 
ened, the advance party of pinnaces and small ves- 
sels returned to the fleet in the offing, and remained 
at anchor the next day, then removed to the south- 
west point of the island, to wash the ships and re- 
fresh the crews. 

Drake did not return to San Juan, but con- 
tented himself with levying tribute or burning 
towns on the Caribbean side of the island. His 
fleet then sailed for I^ombre de Dios, and on the 
28th of January, 1596, while the fleet was off 
Porto Bello, Drake breathed his last, and was 
buried at sea in a leaden coffin. He was succeeded 
in command by Sir Thomas Baskerville, who, 
while returning to England, fell in with a Spanish 
fleet off the Isle of Pines, and gave it battle. The 
English had the best of it, but the Spanish admiral 
(after the Spanish fashion) subsequently issued a 
bulletin, claiming a glorious victory. Baskerville 
was so incensed that on his return home he posted ■ 
the Spanish admiral as a liar and challenged him 
to a duel, but nothing ever came of it. 

In 1698 another English squadron, of twenty- 
two ships, attacked San Juan, but was almost en- 
tirely destroyed by the elements, a furious hurri- 
cane sinking many vessels and delivering their 
crews into the hands of their enemies. In 1Y02 a 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 219 

Dutch, squadron, and also an English, were driven 
off from San Juan, but a Puerto Rican fleet, fitted 
out to attack the British, was totally destroyed by 
a hurricane; so that the islanders were now con- 
vinced that the previous and similar disaster to the 
foreigners was not altogether a visitation of Provi- 
dence, as they had at first regarded it. 

The seventeenth century was one of trouble 
and disaster to the Spaniards in the West Indies, 
particularly in Puerto Rico, for the French and 
English buccaneers were then flourishing. Di- 
vided into two bands, these pirates committed ter- 
rible depredations under the name of hucaneros 
and filihusteroSy their headquarters being first in 
the island of St. Kitts, whence they were dislodged 
by Don Federico Toledo, who dropped upon them 
with an expedition from San Juan de Puerto Rico 
in 162 9-' 30, and finally in the island of Tortuga, 
off the coast of Haiti. 

The eighteenth century was peaceful, in the 
main, but toward its close, or in 1797, after the 
Franco-Spanish alliance against England, the Brit- 
ish made immediate preparations for weakening 
Spain through repeated attacks upon her colonies. 
A squadron was assembled in the West Indies un- 
der the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, which 
attacked the Spanish fleet in the bay of Port of 



220 PUERTO TIICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Spain, island of Trinidad, with the result that the 
latter surrendered without firing a shot, and that 
noble island, together with two hundred pieces of 
artillery and an ambulance of ammunition and 
provisions, fell into British hands. As on the occa- 
sion of another Spanish surrender — that of Santi- 
ago de Cuba, to the Americans, in 1898 — a condi- 
tion agreed to was that all Spanish sailors and sol- 
diers should be returned to Spain as soon as trans- 
ports could be secured for the purpose. Thus His- 
tory repeats itself; only in the former case there 
were but twenty-two hundred Spaniards to be repa- 
triated, while in the modern instance there were 
nearly thirty thousand. 

After the capture of Trinidad, which was con- 
firmed in British possession in 1802, the English 
turned their eyes toward Puerto Rico, as being the 
nearest Spanish island of importance, and which, 
says the English historian of that day, writing in 
1798, "under an enlightened government might 
be raised to an eminent rank in the colonial scale " ! 

Abercromby landed his troops off the little 
hamlet of Cangrejos, and made several determined 
attempts to take San Juan; but after two weeks 
of desultory bombarding and skirmishing was 
finally forced to depart, with a total loss of two hun- 
dred and thirty killed, wounded, and missing. 



A CHAPTER OF HISTORY. 221 

This was the last bombardment of San Juan 
until the premature attack upon its fortifications 
on May 12, 1898, by Admiral Sampson, of the 
United States navy. Although these old walls, 
mounted mainly with obsolete cannon and 
mortars, have been objects of ridicule for many 
years, yet it would seem that they are more nearly 
impregnable than modern earthworks; and it is 
not improbable that the world may some day wit- 
ness a return to the picturesque fortifications of the 
great Vaubanl 

During the attack by Abercromby there were 
several desperate hand-to-hand encounters in the 
very streets of the city, which were barricaded and 
ditched. The Spanish loss, according to their own 
accounts, was forty-two killed and one hundred and 
fifty wounded; but they took prisoners, they 
claimed, more than the entire number which the 
British acknowledged as killed, wounded, and miss- 
ing. 

The present century has witnessed few serious 
disturbances in Puerto Rico, save those caused by 
sympathetic action with Spanish politics. Thus, 
during the second decade of the century, while 
Mexico and the Spanish- American colonies were 
engaged in throwing ofi their allegiance to the 
mother country, disturbances also occurred in 



222 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Puerto Rico, but not to an extent whicli seriously 
threatened the Spanish domination. Again, in the 
'30s, when Spain was agitated over the Spanish 
succession, Carlists and Separatists succeeded in 
making much trouble in the colony; but, in the 
main, with the exception of an uprising about thirty 
years ago, Puerto Rico has justified its title of " ever 
loyal and faithful isle." 

In fact, the very features of the island lend 
themselves to the preservation of peace, for, while 
the island of Cuba affords secure hiding-places 
for innumerable insurgents, whence they may 
keep up a desultory but destructive warfare for 
months and years with impunity; in Puerto Rico, 
on the contrary, there are few points of van- 
tage for the revolutionist. The cry of " Viva 
Puerto Rico lihre " is as dear to the heart of the 
average Puerto-Riqueno as " Viva Cuba litre '' is 
to the Cuban insurgent; but he has hardly had an 
opportunity for raising a banner with the patriotic 
sentiment inscribed thereon, before the Spanish sol- 
diery have been upon him. 



XYI. 

AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 

'No year, decade, or century lias been so preg- 
nant with important events to Puerto Rico since its 
discovery and conquest as the year 1898. For, in 
the summer of that year, consequent upon events 
with which we are all familiar, occurred the trans- 
fer of supreme authority over its governmental des- 
tinies from Spain to the United States. Immedi- 
ately after the virtual declaration of war, involved 
in President McKinley's ultimatum to Spain, 
April 20, 1898, attention was directed to Puerto 
Rico, not only as a strategic base of operations, but 
as a possession prospectively valuable in itself. 

The impression that it was foredoomed to cap- 
ture by our fleets and armies was heightened when, 
the last week in April, the Spanish fleet, com- 
manded by Admiral Cervera, consisting of four 
cruisers and battleships, and three torpedo boats 
and " destroyers," left the Cape de Yerde Islands 
for West Indian waters. During nearly three 

223 



224 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

weeks, when all America was in a feverish state of 
suspense as to the whereabouts of this formidable 
fleet, it was unknown whether its destination was to 
be some port of Cuba or of Puerto Rico. In the 
expectation that it would at least put in at San 
Juan to coal and refit, the United States fleet, un- 
der Admiral Sampson, cruised for a time in that 
vicinity, the ultimate result of this visit being the 
bombardment of the ancient fortifications of 
Puerto Rico's capital city. This bombardment, 
which took place May 12th, was a worse than use- 
less expenditure of ammunition, as no adequate re- 
sults were obtained, hardly an impression being 
made upon the age-worn battlements. 

However, this, if nothing else, attracted uni- 
versal attention to the island, and after the trium- 
phant success of our arms at Santiago de Cuba, 
when his presence was no longer needed there, G-en- 
eral E'elson A. Miles, with between three and four 
thousand troops, embarked for Puerto Rico. On 
the 25th of July, while all eyes were turned to- 
ward the northeast end of the island as his con- 
jectural place of debarkation. General Miles sud- 
denly appeared in the land-locked port of Guanica, 
on the southeast coast, and quickly captured it 
after a few shots ashore from the little gunboat 
Gloucester. A landing of troops was effected on 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 225 

the 26th, when, after a slight skh'mish with the 
enemy, a march was made to Yauco, farther 
back in the hills; and on the 28th to Ponce, the 
largest city on this coast, which capitulated with- 
out firing a gun. Everywhere, indeed, the Ameri- 
can troops were received with acclamation by the 
native residents of the island, who vied with each 
other in their attentions by the way, when they- 
came out of their huts and houses with offerings 
of fruits, drinks, flowers, and shouted themselves 
hoarse with " Viva los Americanos ! " 

The Puerto Kican campaign had hardly begun 
when it was summarily ended — to the great cha- 
grin of the commander-in-chief and all his subordi- 
nates — by the promulgation of the protocol between 
the United States and Spain, preliminary to the 
final treaty of peace. Although the casualties were 
slight, but few of our soldiers being killed in battle, 
yet at several points there was spirited fighting, and 
through it all our " boys " carried themselves with 
conspicuous gallantry. There were volunteer regi- 
ments from Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
Pennsylvania, and ^N'ew York, besides infantry, 
batteries of artillery, and troops of cavalry from the 
regular service; and all did credit to the country 
that sent them out to fight its battles. 

'No time was lost in developing the strategy of 



226 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the commanding general, and when the unwelcome 
" protocol '' was cabled to the island it found a 
military net spread for the enemy which would 
soon have resulted in his entire discomfiture. Gen- 
eral Miles returned to the United States about the 
first week in September, and perhaps no better 
summary of his brief campaign can be given than 
in his own words, uttered soon after he landed on 
American soil: 

As soon as a suitable escort could be obtained 
from the navy I left the coast of Cuba with thirty- 
four hundred men to seize and occupy the island 
of Puerto Rico. The place of landing had been so 
thoroughly advertised in communications sent over 
the French cable and in the newspapers of my own 
country, and telegraphed to Madrid and from there 
to San Juan, that, not having received the necessary 
appliances with which to disembark, I decided, 
after leaving the Windward Passage, to change my 
course and land on the south side of Puerto Kico, 
where the Spaniards were the least prepared and 
the least expecting to receive me, and where I knew 
that the disembarkation of the troops and the sup- 
plies could be most easily effected. 

Prom the time of that disembarkation, dur- 
ing the following nineteen days of campaign, I 
kept the Spaniards guessing what the next move 
would be. 

When they withdrew along the line of the 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 227 

great military road between Ponce and San Juan 
they destroyed tlie bridges, obstructed the roads^ 
and fortified strong positions in the mountain 
passes, and then were surprised to find that one 
column of my army was sweeping around the west 
of the island, capturing the principal cities and 
towns, while another had passed over the mountains 
on a trail which the Spaniards had supposed im- 
passable, and, therefore, had not fortified or 
guarded; and the first they knew of the march of 
the American army was the appearance of a strong 
brigade within twenty miles of the northern coast, 
at the terminus of the railroad connecting San Juan 
with Arecibo. 

The island of Puerto Pico was fairly won by 
the right of conquest and became a part of the 
United States. The sentiment of the people was in 
no sense outraged by the invaders, but, on the con- 
trary, was successfully propitiated. A people who 
have endured the severity of Spanish rule for four 
centuries hail with joy the protection of the great 
republic. One of the richest sections of country 
over which our flag now floats has been added, and 
will be of lasting value to our nation politically, 
commercially, and from a military or strategic 
point of view. . . . 

I remained in Puerto Pico as long as I deemed 
my presence necessary for carrying out the in- 
structions of the President, and now return to the 
United States, bringing with me nearly five thou- 
sand men, who are no longer required, there being 



228 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

some twelve thousand still remaining, amply suf- 
ficient for all purposes. 

There were but four real fights in the island, 
but the suspension of hostilities found conditions 
very favourable for several more, which would 
have taken place within a few hours: for General 
Brooke, who had been sent to accomplish the grand 
flank movement from Arroyo, had the mountain 
town of Cayey already under his guns; while Gen- 
eral Wilson, who had advanced along the highway 
from Ponce, was firing briskly upon the intrench- 
ments around Aybonito, with good prospect of their 
speedy capture. In the west, all the country be- 
tween Ponce and Mayagliez was in our possession, 
and the latter city had been taken by General 
Schwan, who was advancing rapidly upon Agua- 
dilla; while General Henry was striking north- 
easterly for Lares and Arecibo, which would have 
been ours without delay. 

So the whole western and southern coast may 
be said to have been in our possession when orders 
were received to suspend firing; for, though hills 
and forests swarmed with Spanish soldiers, yet the 
gallant initiative of our troops at Santiago — never 
to retreat and to continually push forward — had its 
demoralizing effect upon the enemy. Theirs was a 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 229 

lost cause, also, and they knew it, fighting only 
in a faint-hearted manner and perfunctorily; for, 
as they would be marching out of a town at one 
&ide, while our troops were marching in at another, 
they could hear the native bands playing American 
airs, and cheering our flag and soldiers! 

When, then, the brave boys were told by their 
general that they must '^ merely mark time a 
while," while the details of evacuation were ar- 
ranged, and forego snatching the fruits of a victory 
that was almost within their grasp, it is no wonder 
that many strong men actually wept at their guns 
— as at Aybonito — and felt inclined to rebel. 

They had gained their positions under perfect 
storms of bullets, which had stricken down their 
comrades on every side, and had unlimbered their 
guns while shell and shrapnel were screaming 
overhead; had just secured a position whence, as 
one of the gunners said, they could " sweep the 
Spaniards off the earth," when a superior power in- 
tervened, and saved the foe from annihilation. 
That they obeyed, though sullenly, and halted in 
their tracks, with guns loaded and trained upon 
the enemy, shows what admirable discipline pre- 
vailed among our volunteers and regulars. 

It is a question whether our soldiers or the na- 
16 



230 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tives were the more disappointed, the former hav- 
ing been wrought up to fighting pitch, though 
without any malice or personal wrongs to avenge; 
the latter, still smarting under the recollection of 
many indignities, burning for revenge. But reason 
resumed its sway at last, and, with the exception of 
the atrocities committed by the Spanish soldiery at 
Ciales, and the retributory punishment personally 
inflicted by the natives, there was no further fight- 
ing. In the hills, indeed, and on isolated planta- 
tions, bandit bands perpetrated atrocities, the so- 
ciety of the " Black Hand " extorting money by 
threats and murdering people indiscriminately. 

The suspension of hostilities dates from the mid- 
dle of August, 1898, and on the 16th the United 
States cruiser New Orleans entered the harbour 
of San Juan, which had been barred to our ships 
by mines and sunken wrecks hitherto, and the 
commander. Captain Folger, went ashore and paid 
his respects to Captain-General Macias, his call be- 
ing returned the following day. Peace commis- 
sioners were appointed by the President of the 
United States, to meet and confer with those as- 
signed to similar service by Spain, and on the last 
day of August, Bear- Admiral Schley and Brigadier- 
General Gordon sailed from 'New York, to meet 
the third commissioner, General Brooke, who was 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 231 

already in the island, and who advanced overland 
from his last position in front of the enemy to Rio 
Piedras and San Juan. 

Six days later they met in the Capital, and were 
most courteously received by Captain-General 
Macias at a reception held in their honour at the 
palace, and mingled unreservedly, as friends, with 
those who but a short time previously were oppos- 
ing them as bitter foes. 

Hardly second in importance to the peace com- 
missioners who were to arrange for the evacuation 
of the island were the postal commissioners, who 
sailed with them in the same ship. These were to 
follow after and gather up the threads dropped 
from military hands — in fact, our energetic Execu- 
tive had already provided for the transmission of 
mails to and through the island, so far as prac- 
ticable. The armistice afforded opportunity for 
establishing post offices well up to the front, and 
with the retirement of the Spanish soldiery and 
advance of our own, the postal service was carried 
along accordingly, until, with the evacuation by 
the Spaniards and occupation by the Americans, 
the insular system was already well established. 

Thus had war and peace joined hands for the 
advancement of American ideas and promulgation 
of American methods. Almost without a jar — cer- 



232 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tainly without any appreciable shock to the natives 
— our officials were installed, our administration 
was established, and the confidence of our new. 
colonists in our integrity perfectly won. So per- 
fect was the entente between the American and 
Puerto Rican commissioners, so efficient the offi- 
cials appointed for the purpose of promoting the 
evacuation, that by the first of October all details 
had been arranged, and by the eighteenth our 
Government was in possession, without friction, 
without disturbance, with every evidence of good- 
will on both sides. 

On the 18th of October, 1898, two cable de- 
spatches were sent from Puerto Pico to the United 
States. The first from San Juan de Puerto Rico: 

Promptly at noon to-day the American flag was 
raised over San Juan. The ceremony was quiet and 
dignified, unmarred by disorder of any kind. 

The Eleventh Regular Infantry, with two bat- 
teries of the Fifth Artillery, landed this morning. 
The latter proceeded to the fort, while the infan- 
try lined up on the docks. It was a holiday for 
San Juan, and there were many people in the 
streets. 

Rear- Admiral Schley and Oeneral Gordon, ac- 
companied by their staffs, proceeded to the palace 
in carriages. The Eleventh Infantry and band, 
with Troop H of the Sixth United States Cavalry, 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 233 

then marched through the streets and formed in 
the square opposite the palace. At 11.40 a. m. 
General Brooke, Admiral Schley, and General Gor- 
don, the United States Evacuation Commissioners, 
came out of the palace, with many naval officers, 
and formed on the right side of the square. The 
streets behind the soldiers were thronged with 
townspeople, who stood waiting in dead silence. 

At last the city clock struck the hour of twelve, 
and the crowds, almost breathless, and with eyes 
fixed upon the flag pole, watched for developments. 
At the sound of the first gun from Fort Morr©, 
Major Dean and Lieutenant Castle, of General 
Brooke's staff, hoisted the Stars and Stripes, while 
the band played the Star Spangled Banner. 

All heads were bared and the crowds cheered. 
Fort Morro, Fort San Cristobal, and the United 
States revenue cutter Manning, lying in the har- 
bor, fired twenty-one guns each. 

Seiior Munez Rivera, who was president of the 
recent Autonomist Council of Secretaries, and 
other officials of the late insular government, were 
present at the proceedings. 

Congratulations and handshaking among the 
American officers followed. Ensign King hoisted 
the Stars and Stripes on the Intendencia, but all 
other flags on the various public buildings were 
hoisted by military officers. Simultaneously with 
the raising of the flag over the captain general's 
palace many others were hoisted in different parts 
of the city. 



234 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The second despatcli from Ponce, Puerto Eico: 

To-day's celebrations in connection with the 
formal surrender of the island of Puerto Rico were 
most enthusiastic. After the parade the bands 
and various trade organizations went to General 
Henry's headquarters. General Henry in a speech 
said: 

" Alcalde and citizens : To-day the flag of the 
United States floats as an emblem of undisputed 
authority over the island of Puerto Pico, giving 
promise of protection to life, of liberty, prosperity, 
and the right to worship God in accordance with 
the dictates of conscience. The forty-five States 
represented by the stars emblazoned on the blue 
field of that flag unite in vouchsafing to you pros- 
perity and protection as citizens of the American 
Union. 

" Your future destiny rests largely with your- 
selves. Pespect the rights of each other. Do not 
abuse the Government which accords opportunity 
to the individual for advancement. Political ani- 
mosities must be forgotten in unity and in the rec- 
ognition of common interests. I congratulate you 
all on beginning your public life under new aus- 
pices, free from governmental oppression, and with 
liberty to advance your own country's interests by 
your united efforts." 

The Alcalde replied in part : 

" We hope soon to see another star symbolic of 
our prosperity and of our membership in the great 
Republic of States. Puerto Rico has not accepted 





Gathering cocoaimts. 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 235 

American domination on account of force. She has 
suffered for many years the evils of error, neglect, 
and persecution, but she had men who studied the 
question of government, and who saw in America 
her redemption and a guarantee of life, liberty, and 
justice. There we came willingly and freely, 
hoping, hand in hand with the greatest of all re- 
publics, to advance in civilization and progress, and 
to become part of the Kepublic, to which we pledge 
our faith forever.'' 

The town was profusely decorated with Amer- 
ican flags. 

A line of steamers has plied regularly between 
'New York and Puerto Rico for many years, and, 
although until recently more devoted to freight 
than passenger traffic, it has been augmented so 
that the anticipated hegira to that island will be 
accommodated. In good weather the distance be- 
tween i^ew York and San Juan can be covered in 
four days, though the usual passage is five, and, as 
the waters beyond the Gulf Stream are generally 
smooth, a pleasurable voyage will be in prospect for 
those intending to visit this, our first acquisition in 
tropical American waters. 

" The great outward pressure that all nations 
feel is the pressure of commerce for new markets; 
and statesmen, whether they know it or not, min- 
ister to trade, and through trade to civilization," 



236 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

says a talented writer in a contemporary maga- 
zine. 

'Not only as a prospectively valuable acquisi- 
tion, for its as yet undeveloped resources, but as an 
actual factor in the world of commerce to-day, 
Puerto Rico bolds out tempting allurements. By 
the last published statistics the island's foreign com- 
merce aggregated $36,624,000 in 1896, exports 
and imports being pretty evenly divided. Spain, 
as the then " home country," received, of course, 
the largest share, or an average amount of $10,000,- 
000; but the United States came next, with about 
$7,000,000, or twenty per cent. 

'No^Y, does it need a prophetic eye to foresee 
the result of the substitution of the United States 
for Spain, in the character of nurse or foster- 
mother? It may seem ungenerous to look this 
" gift-horse " in the mouth ; but we may say, per- 
haps, without laying ourselves open to that charge, 
that, aside from the benefit directly resulting to the 
inhabitants of a territory which has hitherto had 
every incentive to industry suppressed by an alien 
soldiery and unsympathetic bureaucracy, there will 
be the advantage of contiguity of that country 
which is now destined to take their crude natural 
products and supply their demands for manufac- 
tured goods! In short, it would seem that the ad- 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 237 

mission of the island of Puerto Rico within the 
Union might prove so mutually beneficial as to 
suggest the satisfying of that hiatus popularly 
known as a " long-felt want ! " In anticipation of 
the fruit which this tropical tree, now shaken by 
northern blasts, is likely to yield, American inves- 
tors followed swiftly after American soldiers, and 
it was estimated by one on the ground that at least 
three hundred of this class were in the province of 
Ponce alone before the details of evacuation had 
been completed. 

Coincident with the announcement that Span- 
ish authority had ceased, came word that the most 
important suburban tramway line of San Juan, 
that to Rio Piedras, had been transferred to Ameri- 
can capitalists, who were to change the motive 
power from steam to electricity. The President of 
the United States was said to have been over- 
whelmed with applications for concessions and 
franchises, which he wisely declined to grant under 
the then existing conditions. A company was 
formed for the exploitation of the Antilles, with a 
capital of eighteen million dollars, even before 
peace was declared; transfers of landed properties 
were in process before the protocol was signed. 
Everywhere it was evident that our citizens were 
keenly alive to the fact that the first opportunity 



238 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

was now offered for acquiring tropical property 
protected by the Stars and Stripes. 

While in the preceding pages the information 
set forth may already have anticipated the ques- 
tion (at least, that was the intention), still it may 
seem pertinent to inquire as to the opportunities 
offered in the island for the investment of capital. 
Prefacing his remarks with the well-known aphor- 
ism as to the fate of pioneers in general — that their 
bones whiten all the border lands of civilization, 
the writer would say that he does not feel compe- 
tent to advise. In his statements as to the resources 
of Puerto Pico he has taken into account not alone 
the present resources, but the potential energies 
latent in the soil and vegetation. There is an- 
other Puerto Rico to arise from the ashes of the 
old — that is, American energy and capital will 
evoke wonders from the soil and convert the cli- 
mate into an ally instead of an enemy. Hotels, 
sanatoriums, paradisaical winter resorts, will arise 
in the hills, and along the coast the lands will blos- 
som with the products of every clime. That the 
island will become the chosen abiding place of 
wealth and culture during the colder months of the 
year, and that many an investor of small means 
will seek here a home for himself and family, we 
have every reason to believe. 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 239 

There will be no winter to provide for; per- 
petual summer is no dream, but a reality; fuel is 
not needed, except for culinary purposes; clothing 
may be reduced to the minimum, and in the case 
of children to nothing at all; the house may be 
made without cost, and comfortable quarters pro- 
vided by a few days' labour; food-plants are on 
every side; fowls of all kinds can be reared here, 
for they find a congenial home, multiply with 
astonishing rapidity, and, as there are no noxious 
reptiles or quadrupeds, like snakes and 'possums, 
they can be left to run wild and pick up their own 
living. 

These are facts; it only remains for man to 
subordinate the works and products of ^N^ature to 
his use. ^N'ature is stubborn and unyielding; man 
is weak and a prey to fevers, as well as to melan- 
choly and nostalgia. Can he live in the tropics 
and bear up against the combined effects of climate 
and isolation? Can he plant a cafetal or orangery, 
a cocoa wood or cacao grove, with a reasonable 
prospect of gathering its fruits, and of leaving it, a 
valuable possession, to his children? 

According to an eminent savant of Europe, 
there is nothing in the equatorial climate, in the 
way of plagues or disease, that is not due to para- 
sites, which may be found in almost all the cli- 



240 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

mates of tlie earth, the difference being that in the 
tropical countries the bacilli thrive wonderfully 
under the favouring high temperature. Science is 
making rapid strides in the direction of success- 
fully combating disease organisms, whether they 
be found in greater or less numbers, and it is not 
an overly venturesome opinion to say that the time 
is apj)roaching when all the plagues of the earth 
will come under hygienic and medicinal control. 
More than one scientific man has pointed out 
that the even temperatures of the tropical regions 
do not demand so hardy a constitution as is re- 
quired by the long, cold winters, and the fierce hot 
summers of the so-called temperate zones, and it 
should not be forgotten that the hot climates of the 
earth were the original home of the whole human 
race! 



Still, it is in the temperate regions that man 
has made his greatest development — in the arts, 
literature, science; in everything that makes for 
progress and well-being, and this is doubtless ow- 
ing to the difference of environment. In the trop- 
ics his energies are dissipated; in the temperate 
zone he is thrown upon himself, as it were, and be- 
comes resourceful, self-reliant. 
- In conclusion, we should note that the general 
opinion of those who have examined into the sub- 
ject is, that Puerto Rico is not, in its strictest sense. 



AN AMERICAN POSSESSION. 241 

a " poor man's country.'' While, if content to live 
as the natives live, a hand-to-mouth existence, he 
can easily gain a mere subsistence, yet the oppor- 
tunities for expansion are not, at present, abound- 
ing. In other West Indian islands, notably in 
those belonging to the British, there are large tracts 
of so-called Crown lands, as well as abandoned 
estates, which may be obtained at low prices and on 
easy terms. But in Puerto Kico the Spanish Gov- 
ernment had originally but little of that sort; and 
even if there were any, there is no doubt that the 
retiring officials will have lost no time in having it 
transferred to individual ownerships before the 
United States Government can bring it within its 
jurisdiction. Most of the " Crown " lands are those 
which have been seized in default of payment of 
taxes, and distributed among the favourites of the 
administration. That was the Spanish way of do- 
ing business, and it remains to be seen if a new and 
improved order will be introduced now that we are 
in possession. 

Large tracts of sugar lands may be obtained, 
especially in the eastern districts of Humacao, Fa- 
jardo, and Guayama; but, even while sugar is not 
at present a profitable cultivation (except under 
conditions mentioned in the chapter on that sub- 
ject), it is doubtful if lands can be acquired save by 



242 PUERTO RICO AKD ITS RESOURCES. 

an immense expenditure, say of fifty thousand 
or one himdred thousand dollars. In ' a modi- 
fied way the same holds true of the large cofiee 
estates, which are held at about five hundred dollars 
per acre, though wild lands exist which should be 
available at not over twenty or thirty dollars per 
acre. The first comers, of course, will get the 
best lands; and, as in every other country, while 
many individuals will become impoverished in 
their adventures in this region, some again will ac- 
quire fortunes with but little effort. In a word, 
it will be here, as elsewhere, the " survival of the 
fittest " — that is to say, the keenest intelligence, 
the longest purse, and the shrewdest settler, will 
win in the end. 



APPENDIX. 



As the island of Puerto Rico, though for centu- 
ries a Spanish possession, is still terra incognita 
to most Americans it is believed that the following 
information, obtained from other sources than the 
author's personal observations, will prove of value 
in forming an estimate of its resources and in cor- 
recting any possible exuberance of fancy growing out 
of an intense interest in the subject. 

The most flourishing plantations of Puerto Pico, 
says that invaluable publication, the Bulletin of the 
Bureau of the American Republics, for August, 1898, 
are situated on the littoral plains and in the valleys 
of rivers which, according to Longman's Gazetteer, 
are " intensely cultivated." 

The principal products are sugar, molasses, coffee, 
tobacco; then maize, rice, cotton, hides, dye-woods, 
and timber. Coffee is produced to the extent of over 
16,000 tons per annum, and the annual sugar produc- 
tion averages 67,000 tons. 

The forests abound in mahogany, cedar, ebony, 
dyewoods, and a great variety of medicinal and in- 
dustrial plants. All kinds of tropical fruits are 

243 



24:4 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

found. An average of 190,000,000 bananas, 6,500,- 
000 oranges, 2,500,000 cocoannts, and 7,000,000 
pounds of tobacco is produced annually. 

Sugar-cane is cultivated on 61,000 acres, the dis- 
tricts in which it is produced on the largest scale 
being Ponce, 6,500 acres; Juana Diaz, 4,000 acres; 
Vieques, 3,000; Arecibo, 3,000; San German, 2,500. 
Coffee is cultivated on about 122,000 acres, two 
thirds of the whole being in the following districts: 
Utuado, Las Marias, Adjuntas, Maricao, Ponce, 
Lares, Mayagiiez, Yauco, San Sebastian, Ciales, Bar- 
ros, and Juan Diaz. Ponce, Mayagiiez, and x\recibo 
are the provinces which produce more largely than 
any others in the island. It is estimated that every 
acre of coffee plantation averages in production 330 
pounds. Tobacco is cultivated on over 2,000 acres, 
and over 1,100,000 acres are devoted to pastures. 
As these figures change from year to year they can 
be given only approximately. The total quantity 
of " declared lands " in 1894 amounted to 3,171 
square miles, and as the total extent of the island of 
Puerto Eico is some 3,668 square miles, the differ- 
ence between the rural property and the total area 
is 497 square miles, which are taken up by the towns, 
roads, rivers, bays, etc. 

The sugar industry, until within the past few 
years, has been the most important, but, owing to 
the excessive land tax assessed by the Spanish offi- 
cials and the growing use of beet sugar, it has in later 
years suffered a marked decline. Then, too, most of 
the mills used are equipped with machinery of an ob- 
solete character. All the natural conditions — soil, 
climate, and labour — are favourable to the culture of 
this product, and it will no doubt now revive and 
flourish to an extent hitherto unknown. 

Coffee is also a staple product. The greater part 
of it was formerly shipped to New York, where it 



APPENDIX. 245 

commanded a good price. Mucli of the coffee now 
produced is grown by planters of small capital, who 
make use of the wild and waste lands of the hillsides 
to grow the berry. They prefer to cnltivate coffee 
on account of the ease with which it can be produced, 
requiring but little expenditure as compared with 
the manufacture of sugar and molasses. 

Tobacco, which ranks second in quality to that 
of Cuba, can be produced in great quantities, but 
the natives are generally careless in guarding against 
destructive insects and in drying and sorting the 
leaves. A considerable quantity, both in the form 
of leaf and manufactured cigars, is exported each 
year to the United States, England, France, Cuba, 
and Spain. Three qualities are produced: Capa, 
which is the leaf of first quality, used for wrappers; 
tripa, also a wrapper of medium grade; and leliclie, 
or ordinary leaf. Tobacco culture is capable of enor- 
mous development here under favourable circum- 
stances. 

A small quantity of cacao is produced each year. 
Maize is grown on considerable areas only at times 
when high prices promise to prevail. Some cotton 
is also produced. Grass grows luxuriantly and af- 
fords pasturage for numerous herds of cattle, nearly 
all of which are exported. The hides of those con- 
sumed on the island are sent to other countries. 

The mineral resources are not very extensive. 
Gold is found in limited quantities. Some copper, 
lead, iron, and coal are obtained. Lignite and yel- 
low amber are found at Utuado and Moca. There 
are undeveloped resources of marble, limestone, and 
other building stone. The salt works at Guanica, 
Salinas, and Cape Rojo are under governmental con- 
trol. Hot springs and mineral waters are found at 
Coamo, Juana Diaz, San Sebastian, San Lorenzo, 
and Ponce. The first-named are the most noted. 
17 



24:6 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Land and Mining Laws. 

There is no public land in the island of Puerto 
Rico, therefore colonization must be undertaken 
there, as in Cuba, by private enterprise. The popu- 
lation of Puerto Eico is very dense, and all the land 
has been taken. The royal ordinance of colonization 
and the Ley de Extrangeria (statute on aliens) do 
not grant concessions of land or offer any material 
inducement to immigration. Cuba and Puerto Eico 
have not, therefore, any law tending to encourage 
foreign immigration, as is the case in most of the 
American countries; and although foreigners are 
welcomed and their rights protected by law, no espe- 
cial privileges are granted for settlement in those 
islands. The mining law in force in Puerto Eico is 
the same as that of Cuba. After the mineral is 
found, titles may be obtained by applying to the civil 
government where the mine is located. In case the 
mine is situated on private land, forcible expropria- 
tion may be obtained, the corresponding indemnity 
having been paid. 

Manufactuees. 

But little manufacturing is carried on. The 
Standard Oil Company has a small refinery across 
the bay from San Juan, at which crude petroleum 
brought from the United States is rectified. Sugar 
making is the chief industry. At San Juan matches, 
ice, soap, and a cheap variety of travelling cases are 
manufactured; there are also tanneries and foun- 
dries in the island. 

Political Divisions and Goyeenment. 

The island is divided into seven districts, and 
under Spanish sovereignty its affairs were adminis- 
tered by a captain-general, who was the civil as well 



APPENDIX. 24Y 

as the military executive, appointed by the Crown, 
with representation in the Spanish Cortes or Parha- 
ment. In 1897, through a royal decree, the island 
was granted autonomous government, with a colo- 
nial parliament, the executive power being vested in 
a governor-general, with department secretaries. 
Under the agreement with Spain for the conclusion 
of peace, Puerto Rico is ceded to the United States, 
and, for the present (1898), is governed by the mili- 
tary commanders under the instructions of the 
United States War Department. 

Transpoetation" Facilities. 

One of the greatest drawbacks in this really won- 
derful island has been the lack of adequate trans- 
portation facilities. All the roads, except the main 
government road, are of the most primitive sort and 
are quite impassable during the rainy seasons. The 
" consumption tax " on liquors and petroleum has 
been ceded to the municipalities, the last few years, 
to be used in repairing the highways. According to 
the latest available reports, the total length of fin- 
ished railroads is about 136 miles, with 170 miles 
under construction. Lines connect San Juan and 
Camuy, Aguadilla and Mayagiiez, Yauco and Ponce, 
Carolina and San Juan, San Juan and Rio Pedras, 
and San Juan and Catana. The New York Com- 
mercial Advertiser of August 13, 1898, gives a full 
account of the railroads, written by a resident, as 
follows: 

" Mail, telegraph, and railroad communications are 
of such a kind that should they disappear entirely 
the people could do just as well without them. It is 
only since the year 1878 that railroads have been 
known in Puerto Rico, and since then the country 
has advanced very little. There are only three rail- 
road lines in the whole island, covering in all one 



248 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

hundred and thirty-six miles. The first one was 
opened in 1878, the East Eailroad Line, from San 
Juan to Eio Piedras, a distance of six miles and a 
quarter, covered in fifty-five minutes, making sev- 
eral stops of one or two minutes. The fare is thirty 
cents from San Juan to Kio Piedras, or five cents per 
mile, and between San Juan or Eio Piedras and the 
intermediate stations the rate is about the same. 
This is the best managed line on the island, and runs 
twelve trains daily, with comfortable and quite ele- 
gant cars, although it may be noticed that the speed 
is limited. 

" The West Eailroad Line, opened in 1881, from 
San Juan to Catano, crosses the harbour by ferryboat, 
and thence to Bayamon by a so-called train. This 
line is the worst thing imaginable, and would fur- 
nish plenty of material for a book on railroad mis- 
management. Trains are run every two and three 
hours, and the trip from San Juan to Bayamon, or 
vice versa, a distance of six miles, is supposed to be 
made in an hour, but this has never been done. It 
always takes an hour and a quarter at least, even 
barring accidents, which are quite numerous, owing 
to the fact that there are only two engines and two 
boats, all in a very poor condition. 

" This line issues tickets from San Juan to Baya- 
mon, connecting at that point with the Arecibo 
train; very often the West Eailroad train is late, 
the passenger misses the Arecibo one, and, as there 
is only a daily train, has to wait till next day at his 
own expense. Civil or criminal suits are never 
brought against any railroad, as the plaintiff is quite 
sure to have judgment rendered against him. 

" Both these lines are owned by private individ- 
uals, so the Government is not to blame for their poor 
management, except for allowing them to violate all 
rules. 



APPENDIX. 249 

" The longest road in the island is the ^ Cir- 
cumvallation Eailroad/ and here the way things 
are done by the Spanish Government can be bet- 
ter judged. In almost ever}^ country railroad com- 
panies pay taxes, but in Puerto Eico things are 
quite different. This railroad is owned by a French 
Company, to which the Government guarantees an 
eight per cent profit on the capital invested. Under 
this contract it is easy to imagine that the manage- 
ment is very poor; the company never makes the 
eight per cent stipulated, and the country has to 
pay for something that does not benefit the people, 
as few can use the railroad owing to its high rates. 

" This contract was made in Madrid, the interests 
of the Puerto Eico people not being considered at 
all. Although the construction of this railroad was 
begun in 1887, and the company agreed to complete 
it in ten years, up to the present time only one third 
of it is in operation, and nobody can tell when the 
remainder will be finished. . . . 

" The particular feature of this railroad is that 
fares must be paid, not in Puerto Eico provincial 
coin, but in Spanish currency, with a premium that 
has been increasing for the last three years, reach- 
ing thirty and thirty-five per cent. On this account 
the passenger never knows how much the ticket will 
be till he reaches the station and reads on the slate 
the rate of exchange. That, as a rule, is as high as 
possible, for there is very little Spanish coin in the 
island, and the public has to pay what the com- 
pany asks." 

Customs Taeiff and Shipping Eegulations. 

The customs tariff for Puerto Eico was promul- 
gated by the War Department of the United States 
on the 19th of August. The rates applied are those 



250 PUERTO EICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

of the minimiim tariff formerly imposed by Spain. 
Under Spanish sovereignty. United States products 
entering Puerto Eico paid the maximum rates. 
They are now on an equal footing with those of other 
nations. 

The tonnage and landing charges are practically 
the same as provided in the Cuban regulations, but 
speaking generally, the customs duties are lower. 
The Spanish tax of fifty cents on each ton of mer- 
chandise landed at San Juan and Mayagiiez for har- 
bour improvements is continued. The following ar- 
ticles are admitted free: 

Trees, plants, and moss in a natural or fresh 
state. 

Gold and silver ores. 

Samples of felt, painted paper, and tissues, when 
they comply with specified conditions. 

Samples of trimmings in small pieces of no com- 
mercial value or possible application. 

Gold, silver, and platinum, in broken-up jewelry 
or table services, bars, sheets, coins, pieces, dust, and 
scrap. 

Also the following under conditions: 

Natural manures and guano. 

IsTational products returning from foreign ex- 
hibits, on presentation of the bill of lading or certifi- 
cate proving their exportation from the island and 
of satisfactory evidence attesting that such products 
have been presented and have been shipped to their 
point of departure. 

Wearing apparel, toilet objects, and articles for 
personal use, bed and table linen, books, portable 
tools and instruments, theatrical costumes, jewels, 
and table services bearing evident signs of having 
been used, imported by travellers in their biggage 
in quantities proportioned to their class, profession, 
and position. 



APPENDIX. 251 

"WTien travellers do not bring their baggage with 
them, the clearing of the same may be made by the 
conductor or persons authorized for the purpose, pro- 
vided that they prove to the satisfaction of the cus- 
toms officers that the effects are destined for pri- 
vate use. 

Works of fine art acquired by the Government, 
academies, or other official corporations, and des- 
tined for museums, galleries, or art schools^, when 
due proof is given as to their destination. 

Archaeological and numismatical objects for pub- 
lic museums, academies, and scientific and artistic 
corporations on proof of their destination. 

Specimens and collections of mineralogy and bot- 
any, and small models for public museums, schools, 
academies, and scientific and artistic corporations, on 
proof of their destination. 

Eeceptacles which have been shipped from the 
island with fruit, sugar, molasses, and spirits, and 
which are reimported empty, including receptacles 
known as " pipotes," of galvanized iron, intended for 
the exportation of alcohol. 

Carriages, trained animals, portable theatres, 
panoramas, wax figures, and other similar objects for 
public entertainment, imported temporarily, pro- 
vided bond be given. 

Used furniture of persons coming to settle in the 
island. 

Foreign articles coming to exhibitions held in the 
island. 

Submarine telegraph cables. 

Pumps intended exclusively for the salvage of 
vessels. 

Parts of machinery, pieces of metal, and wood 
imported for the repair of foreign and national ves- 
sels which have entered ports in the islands through 
stress of weather. 



252 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

The ISTavigation" Eules 

Applying to Puerto Eico are stated in the following 
order of the United States Commissioner of Navi- 
gation. 

Clearance of Vessels to Cuba and Puerto Eico. 

Treasury Department, Bureau of Navigation, 
Washington, D. C, August 15, 1898. 

To Collectors of Customs and Others: 

Vessels may clear to ports in Cuba and Puerto 
Eico, subject to the laws and regulations in force re- 
lating to clearances, except that vessels of the United 
States only will be cleared for the transportation of 
merchandise in the trade between the United States 
and Puerto Eico. 

T. B. Sanders, 

-r ^^^^^^^ Vt , Acting Commissioner. 

L. G. GrAGE, Secretary. 

While only United States vessels may be cleared 
for Puerto Eico, it is understood that foreign vessels 
touching at United States ports will be permitted 
to proceed to Puerto Eico. 

Postal Eates. 

The following order of the Postmaster-General 
of the United States establishes regulations which 
will doubtless apply to the whole of the island of 
Puerto Eico: 

Civilians' Hail for and from Ponce, Puerto Rico. 

Post-Office Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 2, 1898. 
Order ISTo. 319. 

In conformity with the order of the President 
of the 21st ultimo, my order (No. 161) of the 26th of 



APPENDIX. 253 

April last, prohibiting the despatch of any mail mat- 
ter to Spain or her dependencies, is modified so far 
as to permit postal communication between the 
United States and Ponce, Puerto Eico. 

The mails sent to Ponce may contain mail mat- 
ter of all classes allowable in the domestic mails of 
the United States, addressed for delivery at any 
place within the territory occupied by the United 
States forces in the vicinity of Ponce; and the mails 
sent from Ponce may contain the same classes of mail 
matter addressed for delivery in the United States, 
all articles included in said mails being subject to 
inspection by the proper military or naval author- 
ities. 

The postal rates applicable to articles originating 
in or destined for the United States in the mails in 
question are fixed as follows, viz.: 

First-class matter, five cents per half ounce. 

Postal cards, single, two cents; double, four cents. 

Second- and third-class matter, one cent for each 
two ounces. 

Fourth-class matter, one cent for each ounce. 

Eegistration fee, eight cents. 

Only United States postage stamps will be valid 
for the prepayment of postage. Prepayment shall 
not be required, but if postage is not prepaid in full, 
double the amount of the deficient postage at the 
above rates shall be collected on delivery to addresses 
in the United States or Puerto Rico. 

To articles originating in or destined for coun- 
tries beyond the United States, the Postal Union 
rates and conditions shall apply. 

The mails for Ponce must be addressed to the 
United States postal agent at Ponce, and the deliv- 
ery of any article may be withheld if deemed neces- 
sary by the proper military or naval authorities. 

Compensation to merchant vessels for the sea 



254 PUERTO RTCO AND ITS RESOUECES. 

conveyance of mails from Ponce shall be made at the 
rates heretofore paid, to merchant vessels for convey- 
ing mails from the United States to Ponce. 
Chaeles Emoey Smith, 

Postmaster-General, 

Banking and Cueeency, Weights and Measuees. 

There is a hank at San Jnan, the capital, with 
branches at the principal points in the islands. 
Mexican money was current nntil the end of 1895, 
when a five-peseta piece was coined and put in cir- 
culation. 

The metric system of weights and measures is 
in use in Puerto Eico. 

It should be noted that both the customs and 
postal regulations are subject to revision and change, 
in view of the present inchoate condition of affairs, 
and should not be accepted as final. 

Teade of Pueeto Eico. 

Valuable statistics respecting the trade of Puerto 
Eico were gathered by Mr. F. H. Hitchcock, Chief 
of Foreign Markets, United States Department of 
Agriculture, and published in July, 1898. 

" Following is a summary statement of the im- 
ports and exports of Puerto Eico during each calen- 
dar year from 1887 to 1896, inclusive. The original 
values in yesos, as published in the official returns of 
trade issued by the Puerto Eican customs author- 
ities, are accompanied by their nominal equivalent 
in United States dollars. The figures are as follows: 



APPENDIX. 



255 



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256 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 



Teade of Puerto Rico by Countries. 

" The foreign trade of Puerto Rico is conducted 
chiefly with Spain, the United States, Cuba, Ger- 
many, the United Kingdom, and France. Of all the 
merchandise imported and exported by the island 
during the four years 1893-1896, fully eighty-five 
per cent, measured in value, was exchanged with the 
six countries mentioned. Spain received the largest 
share of the trade, the transactions with that country 
in 1893-1896, according to the Puerto Rican statis- 
tics, having an average annual value of $9,888,074, 
which was 28.80 per cent of the total valuation 
placed upon the island's commerce. The United 
States, as a participator in the trade, ranked second 
only to Spain, the value of the goods exchanged aver- 
aging $6,845,252 a year, or 19.94 per cent of the 
total. After Spain and the United States, Cuba 
was the most important factor, the proportion of the 
trade credited to that island amounting to 13.41 per 
cent, and having an average yearly value of $4,606,- 
220. Spain, the United States, and Cuba together 
enjoyed nearly two thirds of the total commerce car- 
ried on by Puerto Rico during 1893-1896. About 
one fourth of the trade was controlled by three Euro- 
pean countries — Germany, the United Kingdom, and 
France. The average value per annum of the busi- 
ness transacted with Germany in the four years men- 
tioned amounted to $3,050,334, or 8.88 per cent of 
the total; that with the United Kingdom to $2,863,- 
930, or 8.34 per cent; and that with France to 
$2,201,687, or 6.41 per cent." 



APPENDIX. 



257 



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APPENDIX. 259 

'' In the island of Jamaica the rainy season appears 
to begin in May and ends, as at Havana, in October. 
At Port an Prince, Haiti, and San Juan, Puerto 
Eico, it begins in April and ends at the former in 
October and at the latter in November, while in the 
island of St. Thomas, to the east of Puerto Eico, the 
rainy season appears to be embraced in the months 
of October, November, and December; also in other 
islands of the Lesser Antilles irregularities are ob- 
served." 

Live Stock of the Island. 

From the official statistics of Puerto Eico we 
learn that the number of cattle and domestic animals 
of all kinds on the island in October, 1896, was: 

Horses 65,751 head 

Oxen and cows 308,612 " 

Mules 4,467 " 

Asses 717 " 

Sheep 2,055 " 

Goats 5,779 " 

Swine 13,411 " 

As A WiNTEE EeSORT. 

"As a delightful winter resort, a valuable trop- 
ical garden, and an important strategic point, Puerto 
Eico is an invaluable acquisition to the people and 
Government of the United States.'^ 

This is the opinion of Mr. 0. P. Austin, Chief of 
the Treasury Bureau of Statistics at Washington, a 
trained observer, an expert statistician, and an au- 
thor of note, who made a flying trip to Puerto Eico 
in September, 1898. 

" But it must not be expected," continued Mr. 
Austin, " that so small an island can become a large 
factor in supplying the $250,000,000 worth of trop- 



260 PUEBTO RICO AND ITS RESOUECES. 

ieal productions wliicli the people of the United 
States annually consume, or that it can absorb a 
very large percentage of the $1,200,000,000 worth of 
our annual productions. Smaller in area than the 
State of Connecticut and with a population less than 
that of the city of Brooklyn, it may not be able to 
meet the somewhat extravagant expectations which 
enthusiastic people have formed with reference to it. 
Settled by Spain more than a century earher than 
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Eock, its 
population is now more dense than that of Massa- 
chusetts, and the prospect of materially increasing 
its productiveness is not flattering. Mountainous 
from centre to circumference, the nearly 1,000,000 
people who occupy its 3,700 square miles of territory 
have put under cultivation most of the available soil, 
and while their methods of culture and transporta- 
tion are in many cases very primitive, it can not be 
expected that the productions of this densely popu- 
lated and closely cultivated area can be largely in- 
creased or its consumption greatly multiplied. 

" The valleys and coast lands are well occupied 
with sugar estates, the area adjoining these is devoted 
to tobacco, and the mountain sides to the very peaks 
are occupied by large coffee plantations, with patches 
of cocoanuts, bananas, plantains, breadfruit, oranges, 
and other tropical fruits scattered among them. 
While the two hundred thousand of its population 
who live in cities and villages enjoy some of the con- 
veniences to which our people are accustomed, the 
large proportion of the rural population is of ex- 
tremely simple habits in the matter of food, cloth- 
ing, and habitation, and, with small earning capacity 
and a small per capita of a depreciated currency, 
can not be expected to soon become large consumers 
of our products. A little rice, a very little flour, 
a few beans, and plenty of bananas, plantains, bread- 



APPENDIX. 261 

fruit, and vegetables satisfy their physical necessi- 
ties; a few yards of cotton cloth for the adults and 
nothing for the children meet their principal require- 
ments for clothing; while a few rough boards and a 
plentiful supply of plaintain and palm leaves supply 
the material for the humble dwellings throughout 
the interior and in many of the villages. With but 
about one fifth of its population able to read and 
write, the knowledge of the outside world is ex- 
tremely limited, and with only one hundred and fifty 
miles of railroad and less than two hundred and fifty 
miles of good wagon road on the island the means of 
intercommunication are not such as to enable a 
prompt stimulation of its production or consump- 
tion. Most of the good roads (and some of them are 
very fine) run from town to town along the coast, 
though there is one exception in the military road 
connecting Ponce on the south shore with San Juan 
on the north shore. Most of the interior, however, 
is only reached by bridle paths, over which transpor- 
tation is effected by paeks carried on small ponies. 
In the cities and towns most of the transportation 
is by bullocks yoked in primitive fashion to two- 
wheeled carts and urged to their work by a sharp 
pointed pole in the hands of a native driver, who 
walks in front of his team, turning to give them a 
vigorous punch when they do not follow with suffi- 
cient speed. The cattle of the island are of a supe- 
rior class, similar in appearance to the Jersey cattle, 
but with broad horns, the cows being driven from 
door to door in the towns and milked into bottles 
in the presence of the customer, while the calves 
stand patiently upon the sidewalk awaiting the re- 
moval of the peripatetic dairy to the residence of the 
next customer. 

*^ Education on the island is not of a very high 
order. A sort of public-school system prevails in 
18 



262 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

some of the towns and cities, bnt in the interior 
reading and writing, except among the plantation 
owners and managers, are rare. Spanish is the popu- 
lar tongue, though the natives of France, of whom 
there are quite a number, retain their language, and 
there are in the towns some English-speaking negroes 
from St. Thomas and other nearby colonies, who 
prove useful as interpreters to the Americans al- 
ready on the island. One of the two daily news- 
papers published in Ponce prints one page in Eng- 
lish, out of compliment to the new conditions, most 
of the matter so published being extracts from the 
Constitution of the United States and sketches of 
the lives of our distinguished men. There are Cath- 
olic churches in all the cities and large towns, some 
of them dating back over a century, handsomely fin- 
ished within and representing a large expenditure 
of money. There is one Protestant church in Ponce, 
said to have been the only one in the Spanish West 
Indies, but it is at present unoccupied. There are 
theatres in the principal cities, and several of the 
leading towns have telephones and are connected by 
telegraph lines aggregating about four hundred 
miles in length, while cable communication is had 
with the United States at $1.17 per word. 

" The currency and finances of the island are 
subjects with which our statesmen will have to deal. 
The Spanish Government in 1895 took up all the 
Mexican and Spanish coins in circulation and sub- 
stituted special silver coins struck in the mint of 
Spain for this purpose. They bear on one side the 
Spanish coat of arms and the words ' Isla de Puerto 
Kico,' and on the other the face of the boy king 
and an elaborate inscription in Spanish. The largest 
of these is the peso, of one hundred centavos, corres- 
ponding in appearance with our silver dollars, weigh- 
ing 385.5 grains, and generally spoken of as a ^ dol- 



APPENDIX. 263 

lar.' There are also smaller silver coins of five, ten, 
twenty, and forty centavos, the twenty-centavo piece 
being known as the peseta, also copper coins of one 
and two centavos. The Spanish Government makes 
no attempt to maintain the standing of these sil- 
ver coins, and they represent little more than their 
bullion value, the banks and merchants gladly ex- 
changing $1.75 in this coin for one dollar in our 
silver or paper, and exchanges being sometimes made 
at two for one, and even higher. The native drivers, 
boatmen, and venders have already learned the su- 
perior value of our coins, and a twenty-five cent 
piece in United States coin is readily accepted at 
from forty-five to fifty cents in payment for their 
services. That it will be necessary to take up this 
fluctuating coin when our permanent measure of 
value permeates this island is generally conceded, 
but just what plan should be adopted in fixing the 
rate at which obligations made in Puerto Eican coin 
shall be paid in that of the United States is a matter 
for statesmen to determine. Another interesting 
question in this connection is whether or not the 
plantation labour which has in the past been satis- 
fied with fifty to sixty cents per day in Puerto Eican 
money will be content to accept twenty-five to thirty 
cents per day in our coins in its stead. The silver 
money coined and sent to the island by Spain 
amounted to six million dollars or pesos, and there 
has been added about one million in paper by certain 
of the five banks of the island, some of which stands 
at par with the silver and some at a discount, but it 
is seldom seen in ordinary business transactions. The 
fact that our own Government has just sent in a 
shipment to the island a sum equal in value to one 
tenth of the entire currency, and that it will be im- 
mediately put into circulation through its payment 
to the troops scattered over the island, furnishes a 



264 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

suggestion as to the probable increase of the cur- 
rency and increased disparity in valne! Statistically 
the productions and commerce of Puerto Eico have 
been already discussed. The exports amount to 
about $15,000,000 a year gold value, and the imports 
about $16,000,000. Coffee forms about 60 per cent 
of the value of the exports, sugar 20 per cent, to- 
bacco 5 per cent, and the remainder made up of 
cacao, rum, hides, sponges, cabinet, woods, etc. Prac- 
tically all the coffee goes to Europe, the grocers and 
dealers asserting that they can obtain higher prices, 
especially for the fine grades, which rank with Java 
and Mocha, in France and Spain than in the United 
States, while the fact that the export duty on coffee, 
tobacco, and cattle was only one tenth as much on 
articles sent to Spain as on those sent to other coun- 
tries encouraged exporters to send their goods to 
Spanish ports. Of the importations, about 50 per 
cent are manufactured articles, largely cotton cloths, 
shoes, fancy goods, and articles of household use, 
15 per cent rice, 10 per cent fish, 10 per cent meats 
and lard, and 7 per cent flour. Naturally, most of 
this came from Spain, because the duty collected on 
articles from that country was only one tenth of 
that on articles from other countries. While con- 
siderable sums are collected from the tariff, the 
Spanish Government also collected a large amount 
by other methods, dealers and property owners being 
required to pay to the Spanish Government one half 
as much tax as was collected for the local govern- 
ment, whose expenses were high, thus making the 
tax burden very heavy. 

"Much interest is already being evinced by people 
from the United States in the matter of investments 
in Puerto Eico, and on this subject there is a variety 
of opinion. Coffee plantations are first considered, 
as they have a reputation of having paid from 15 to 



APPENDIX. 265 

25 per cent profit annually upon their cost. They are 
held,, at high prices^ however, from $75 to $200 per 
acre in Puerto Eican money, according to location, 
quality of coffee produced, age of trees, etc. The 
western part of the island is considered the best for 
coffee, and produces the celebrated Cafe Caracolilla, 
which is all sent to Europe at the export price of 
thirty-two cents per pound in Puerto Eican money. 
Sugar plantations are considered next in importance, 
and are relatively higher in price because of the more 
expensive machinery required, while their attractive- 
ness as investments is reduced by the fact that many 
plantations have of late been abandoned as such and 
turned into cattle ranges. Tobacco has been very 
profitable of late because of the shortage in Cuban 
tobacco, for which it has been substituted, though 
w^hether it will continue its popularity when the 
Cuban article resumes its normal position in the 
market is uncertain. Tropical fruits have had little 
attention, either among local exporters or American 
investors, but might prove more profitable than the 
other interests more discussed, as they are ready for 
shipment at a time of the year when the markets of 
the United States have not begun receiving the Flor- 
ida or California fruits. As to the increase which 
may be expected in the production and consumption 
of the island, it will depend somewhat upon the im- 
provements made in harbours, roads, transportation 
facilities, etc., and the energy with which the Ameri- 
cans may push the work of its development. The 
land in the valleys is extremely rich, and that of the 
mountain sides, even to the very top, is of good col- 
our and productive, especially for coffee and some 
of the fruits. With the opening of roads to the inte- 
rior it is probable that considerable land not now 
tilled would be brought under cultivation, and the 
general concensus of opinion among intelligent resi- 



266 PUERTO RICO AKD ITS RESOURCES. 

dents of the island is that the products can be in- 
creased fifty per cent^ or perhaps more, and the 
profit greatly increased by modern methods of culti- 
vation and transportation, and the consuming power 
of the island increased in about the same proportion. 
Even should this happen, hov^ever, the island could 
furnish but about ten per cent of our annual con- 
sumption of tropical products, and consume but 
about two per cent of our annual exports. The 
business enterprises most likely to be successful in 
Puerto Eico are those related to the tropical produc- 
tions which flourish there and can not flourish in 
the United States, while to our own temperate cli- 
mate and well-established industries should be left 
the task of supplying the general food products and 
manufactures required by the people there, sending 
them the products of our grain fields and factories 
by the vessels which return laden with their tropical 
growths. An acre of land in Puerto Kico can produce 
more of value in sugar, or coffee, or tobacco, or fruit 
than if planted in corn or potatoes or used as pasture, 
while there are single counties in the United States 
larger than all Puerto Eico which are only suitable 
for the production of these general food supplies. 
While there is a general demand for manufactures 
in Puerto Eico, they can be more cheaply supplied 
by our great factories at home than to attempt their 
manufacture there, especially as no coal has yet been 
developed in the island, and fuel is high and water 
power not to be relied upon. Ice factories and brew- 
eries would probably do well there, and it is believed 
that the production of grapes and the manufacture 
of wine would be successful, while the cigar industry 
would be profitable with the plentiful native labour 
and high grade tobacco, especially if all tariff re- 
strictions upon trade between the island and the 
United States shall be removed. 



APPENDIX. 267 

Among tlie most important needs for the develop- 
ment of the island are a thorough survey and readjust- 
ment of property lines and titles^ construction of 
roads and harbour facilities, and the establishment of 
such hotel enterprises as will make practicable a lei- 
surely and careful study of its conditions — conditions 
which have never been carefully studied or developed 
by the Spanish Government, which has controlled the 
island since 1509. 

" As a resort for pleasure seekers or those de- 
siring a delightful winter climate, Puerto Eico will 
be very attractive so soon as direct and fast steam- 
ship lines and American hotels supply some of the 
comforts to which the people of the United States 
have become accustomed. The constant breeze from 
the sea by day and the land at night renders the cli- 
mate a fairly comfortable one even in August, and 
the opportunity to obtain almost any desired alti- 
tude, coupled with the mineral springs which are said 
to abound, will make the island attractive to those 
seeking health as well as recreation. 

" In the cities and towns the succession of strange 
sights and sounds presents a kaleidoscopic and al- 
ways interesting spectacle. The street venders, car- 
rying their stores upon their heads or in huge pan- 
niers upon diminutive ponies, announce their wares in 
strange and not unmusical cries, long lines of rude 
carts drawn by broad horned bullocks crowd the 
streets, native women smoking black cigars flit hither 
and thither, nude children of all colours and ages 
below eight disport themselves unconcernedly upon 
the sidewalks and streets, while soldiers and officers 
are everywhere, busy with their duties establishing 
order and new conditions. On the country roads the 
succession of mountains and valleys covered with 
tropical growth, dashing mountain streams and over- 
hanging cliffs, and the large sugar and coffee plan- 



268 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

tations dotted with the tiny houses of their native 
workmen^ present a panorama of constant interest. 

" Puerto Rico now resumes, politically, the re- 
lations with this continent which long ago existed 
physically. Torn by great natural movements from 
the mainland of which this chain of islands doubtless 
formed a part, she is now restored by another great 
natural movement which is reuniting the continents 
and countries and islands in a system of republics 
having one great purpose of co-operation and mutual 
advancement. Alone she can furnish but a small 
part of the tropical supplies for which we have been 
accustomed to send two hundred and fifty million 
dollars abroad each year, but with the co-operation 
of undeveloped Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, 
should they fall within our borders, would enable us 
to expend among our own people practically all of 
that vast sum which we have heretofore been com- 
pelled to send to foreign lands and foreign people." 

Advice to Immigkants. 

The following report from Mr. Hanna, former 
American Consul at Puerto Rico, was received by the 
Assistant Secretary of State, and will be of interest 
to persons contemplating migration to that island. 
In this report Mr. Planna says: 

" I am convinced that young men seeking work 
or positions of any kind should not come to Puerto 
Rico. Such persons as clerks, carpenters, mechan- 
ics, and labourers of all grades should stay away. 
No American should come to Puerto Rico expect- 
ing to ^ strike it rich,' and no persons should come 
here without plenty of money to pay board bills 
and have enough to take them back to their homes 
in the United States. This is a small island, has 



APPENDIX. 269 

a population of about a million people (?), and is 
the most densely populated country in the world. 
There are several hundred thousand working Puerto 
Eicans ready to fill the vacant jobs and at a low 
price. There may come a time, after the laws of 
the United States are applied by Congress to this 
island, that this will be a good place for Ameri- 
can capital and for Americans to do business, but 
even then a man should have plenty of money who 
expects to make a business success in Puerto Eico. I 
deem it important that the Department cause this 
suggestion to be made public through the newspapers 
of the country." 

Feom the London Times. 

" There is no room for doubt that the more edu- 
cated portion of the population who are possessors 
of real estate or other property in Puerto Eico appre- 
ciate that the change in ownership of the island is 
to their material benefit. It is also necessary to bear 
in mind that the Puerto Eican has always been 
treated by the Spaniard as belonging to an inferior 
caste, and the knowledge of this fact has been most 
galling to the inhabitants here. Moreover, such 
treatment has not been justified by circumstances, 
a considerable number of the more wealthy families 
of the island being fully equal in refinement, culture, 
and general intelligence to the most aristocratic rep- 
resentatives and officials sent to this country from 
Madrid. 

" In so far as the Spaniards engaged in commerce 
are concerned, I think they regard the change of 
government with equanimity. Spanish merchants 
in these countries are generally keen business men, 
who do not allow their patriotism to interfere with 
their pockets, and they quite realize that in the 



270 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

present instance their interests and rights will be 
fully protected. An increase in the volume of busi- 
ness to be transacted will go far toward palliating 
any harsh feelings that may exist to-day as the re- 
sult of the recent occurrences^ and the United States 
Government need have small reason to fear that the 
Spaniards who remain in the island will prove other 
than law-abiding and industrious citizens. 

" As regards foreign residents generally, there 
can be no question that they wdll be l3etter off under 
United States than under Spanish rule. They will 
enjoy sounder security for life and property than has 
hitherto been the case; they will have a legal remedy 
in disputes connected with commercial transactions 
or other matters where they are unjustly treated — 
a remedy which the intricacies of the Spanish courts 
have debarred the great majority of injured persons 
from appealing to in the past. 

" But with the mass of the native inhabitants 
other considerations crop up, and trouble may occur 
in consequence. Amiong the seven hundred thou- 
sand people comprising the lower class of the popula- 
tion of Puerto Eico the code of morality is of a very 
low order. Eespect for law and order has never been 
rigidly enforced by the Spanish authorities, and this 
leniency has resulted in a license as to all moral obli- 
gations becoming almost an ingrained part of the 
native character. 

" From the observations I have made in the isl- 
and I am inclined to think that the country people 
are averse to steady work, and have small respect for 
individual life or property. All this will have to 
suffer alteration under the new regime. The rural 
population will have to work to live, and the amount 
of the contributions they will be called upon to pay 
in the shape of taxation will assuredly be heavier 
than hitherto. Crime of all kinds will meet with 



APPENDIX. 271 

speedy and severe punishment, and the people will 
have to learn and fully appreciate the fact that the 
justice meted out to them is no easy mistress to serve 
under. 

" The transition stage while this lesson is being 
inculcated will, in all human probability, be produc- 
tive of many elements of discontent, and the United 
States authorities must expect to encounter some 
unpleasant difficulties when dealing with these 
sources of mischief. In time the effect of just ad- 
ministration will solve the problem, but during the 
process of solution the Americans must not forget 
that they are dealing with a foreign race, alien alike 
in language, religion, and sentiment to the dominant 
features of their own great republic, and they will 
do well sometimes to call to mind the old Italian 
proverb of ' He who goes sloAvly goes far.' 

" The population of Puerto Eico is of so mixed a 
character as to make it difficult to classify. Of the 
nine hundred thousand inhabitants of the island, 
fully one third are negroes, another third are mulat- 
toes, and the remainder in many cases show marked 
traces of a mixture of African blood in their veins. 
Indeed, to draw a hard-and-fast line where the pure 
white families end and those with a trace of the 
negro begins, is almost impossible. 

'^ The number of foreigners in the island is very 
limited. Of British subjects the total is stated not 
to exceed five hundred, including many negro immi- 
grants from Jamaica and other West Indian colo- 
nies. France is more strongly represented, some two 
thousand persons claiming French citizenship. Ponce 
being their principal centre. In most of the chief 
towns Frenchmen are established in both wholesale 
and retail business, more especially in the latter 
branch of trade. The German colony, although not 
very numerous, has important interests both in finan- 



272 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

cial matters and in the import and export trade of 
the island. 

" The number of Americans resident in Puerto 
Eico before the war was very small, but here, as in 
Cuba, many of the natives have taken out naturaliza- 
tion papers in the United States for the purpose of 
claiming protection whenever they get into trouble. 
This abuse of the naturalization laws of the United 
States was not, however, carried on to the same ex- 
tent by the Puerto Eicans as by the Cubans." 

The Need of Good Eoads. 

Many questions reach the road inquiry bureau of 
the Agricultural Department respecting the charac- 
ter and conditions of the highways of Puerto Eico. 
In the absence of any great amount of detailed infor- 
mation on the subject, and as a general answer to in- 
quiries, attention is called to the following extract of 
a letter from Brigadier General Eoy Stone, who ac- 
companied the army of invasion to the island. The 
communication was addressed to Mr. Martin Dodge, 
director of road inquiry, at the Omaha Exposition. 
General Stone says: 

" I can only add to all that I have heretofore said 
in favour of the movement, a warning and reproof 
drawn from a country where, except for a few mili- 
tary lines, no roads have ever been built, and where 
the bulk of the product of a marvellously rich soil 
is carried to market on the heads of men and women 
or the backs of diminutive animals. As a result of 
this neglect, together with other kindred causes, the 
agricultural population of the island, although in- 
dustrious and frugal, is so poor as to be almost with- 
out shelter, furniture, or clothing, and entirely v/ith- 
out supplies of food, so that their trifling wages must 
be paid day by day to enable them to continue this 
hopeless existence. 



APPENDIX. 273 

"If the change to American possession can be 
made to bring the blessings of good roads to this 
island the lesson may react upon the continent itself 
and aid the work of road improvement at home; and 
this is one thing which encourages me in my local 
work here and consoles me for my absence from the 
greater field. 

" With liberal treatment by our Government I 
hope to see here a quick example of the effects of 
good communications by road, railroad and water, on 
a heretofore homebound people." 

Receipts and Expenditures of Puerto Rico from the 

Presupuestos General de Gastos e Ingresos for the 

Economic Year 1897-'98. 

Pesos. 

Estimates for the Army 1,252,377. 76 

For Navy and Marine 222,668.20 

Church and Justice 423,818.80 

Public Works, etc 878,175.83 

Hacienda (Realty) 260,800.00 

General obligations 498,501 . 60 

Total 3,536,342.19 

Total receipts 3.939,500 00 

Deficit 403,158.81 

Of the appropriations, the estimates were : 

Foreducation 69,776.12 

For the Church 193,610.00 

As follows : 

Bishop of the diocese 9,000.00 

Dean and archdeacon 5,500,00 

Chantre (precentor) 2,500.00 

Canons (canonigos) 10,000. 00 

Prebendaries (racioneros) 7,400.00 

Endowment for ministers 6,000.00 

Endowment of a chapel of music 4,000.00 



274 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Pesos. 

Parochial clergy (at 1,500 each) 10,500.00 

Assistants (at 500 each) 12,000.00 

Sacristans (at 150 each) 1 ,650 , 00 

Curas of small parishes (at 1,000 each) 17,000.00 

Assistant curas (at 600 each) 9,000.00 

Sacristans (at 150 each) 2,500.00 

Curas of small parishes (at 700 each) 40,000 . 00 

Assistant curas (at 000 each) 9,600.00 

Sacristans, at 150 each {sin discuenta) 8,700.00 

Priest of Santo Domingo Church 480.00 

Assistant priest of same 380.00 

Sacristan in charge of the hermitage at Coamo. 360.00 

The congregation of missionaries 6,000.00 

Total in salaries, etc 167,340.00 

Total for " material " 26,270.00 

Total, salaries and " material " 193,610.00 



The Protocol of Peace under which Puerto 
Eico WAS Evacuated. 

Protocol of agreement between the United States 
and Spain, embodying the terms of a basis for the 
establishment of peace between the two countries. 
Signed at Washington, August 12, 1898. 

Protocol. 

William E. Day, Secretary of State of the United 
States, and his Excellency, Jules Cambon, Ambassa- 
dor Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Eepub- 
lic of France at Washington, respectively, possessing 
for this purpose full authority from the Government 
of the United States and the Government of Spain, 
have concluded and signed the following articles, em- 
bodying the terms on which the two governments 
have agreed in respect to the matters hereinafter set 



APPENDIX. 275 

forth, having in view the establishment of peace 
between the two countries, that is to say: 

AKTICLE I. 

Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over 
and title to Cuba. 

AETICLE II. 

Spain will cede to the United States the island of 
Puerto Eico and other islands now under Spanish 
sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an island in 
the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States. 

ABTICLE III. 

The United States will occupy and hold the city, 
bay, and harbour of Manila pending the conclusion 
of a treaty of peace, which shall determine the con- 
trol, disposition, and government of the Philippines. 

AETICLE IV. 

Spain will immediately evacuate Cuba, Puerto 
Eico, and other islands now under Spanish sover- 
eignty in the West Indies, and to this end each gov- 
ernment will, within ten days after the signing of 
this protocol, appoint commissioners, and the com- 
missioners so appointed shall, within thirty days after 
the signing of this protocol, meet at Havana ''for the 
purpose of arranging and carrying out the details 
of the aforesaid evacuation of Cuba and the adjacent 
Spanish islands; and each government will, within 
ten days after the signing of this protocol, also ap- 
point other commissioners, who shall, within thirty 
days after the signing of this protocol, meet at San 
Juan, in Puerto Eico, for the purpose of arranging 
and carrying out the details of the aforesaid evacu- 



276 PUEHTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 

ation of Puerto Eico and other islands now under 
Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies. 

AETICLE V. 

The United States and Spain will each appoint 
not more than five commissioners to treat of peace, 
and the commissioners so appointed shall meet at 
Paris not later than October 1, 1898, and proceed 
to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of 
peace, which treaty shall be subject to ratification, 
according to the respective constitutional forms of 
the two countries. 

AETICLE VI. 

Upon the conclusion and signing of this protocol, 
hostilities between the two countries shall be sus- 
pended, and notice to that efi:ect shall be given as 
soon as possible by each government to the com- 
manders of its military and naval forces. 

Done at Washington, in duplicate, in English and 
in French, by the undersigned, who have hereunto 
set their hands and seals, the 12th day of August, 
1898. 

(Seal.) William E. Day. 

(Seal.) Jules Cambon. 



INDEX 



Abercromby, General, 220. 
Aborigines of Puerto Eico, 198 

et seq. 
Adjuntas, town of, 139. 
Agouti, native mammal, 104. 
Aguada, town of, 130, 139. 
Aguadilla, port and town of, 9, 

18, 130. 
Agueynaba, Indian cacique, 210. 
Alcalde, or mayor, 158, 234. 
Allspice, how grown, 78. 
Almuerzo, or breakfast, 193. 
American flag, when raised, 232- 

234. 
American troops, reception of, 

225, 227 ; bravery of, 228, 229. 
Ahasco, town and river of, 140. 
Anatto (Bixa orellana), 89. 
Arecibo, port and town of, 9, 128, 

129. 
Armadillo, habits of the, 104, 105. 
Arrowak Indians of Guiana, 200. 
Arrow-root, cultivation of, 84. 
Arroyo, port of, 10, 136. 
Austin, Mr. 0. P., on Puerto Eico, 

259 et seq. 
Aybonito, mountain town of, 140 ; 

United States troops at, 229. 

Bamboo, uses of the, 93. 
Banana, cultivation of the, 52, 54 ; 
production of, 244. 

19 



Banking and currency, 254. 

Barceloneta, town of, 190. 

Barranquitas, town of, 141. 

Barros, hamlet of, 141. 

Baskerville, Sir Thomas, 216, 218 

Bayamon, town of, 141. 

Beverages, some native, 186, 190. 

Birds, species of, 109. 

Black Hand, society of the, 230. 

Bohio, or native hut, 51 

Books on Puerto Eico (preface). 

Bread-fruit, the, 94. 

British attack on San Juan, 218. 

British, the, capture Trinidad, 

220. 
Brooke, General, of United States 

army, 228, 230. 
Buccaneers, or bucaneros, 219. 
Bull-fighting, 184. 
Bureau of American Eepublics, 

243. 

Cabinet woods, 92, 144. 

Cable rates to the United States, 

262. 
Cabo Eojo, town of, 141. 
Cacao, cultivation of, 67, 68, 245. 
Caguas, town of, 141. 
Camarones, or crayfish, 106. 
Cambon, M., Ambassador of 

France, 274, 276. 
Camuy, hamlet of, 142. 
277 



278 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 



Cangrejos, town of, 220. 

Caparra, or Pueblo Viejo, 116, 209. 

Carnicero, or butcher, 192. 

Carolina, town of, 142. 

Casa Blanca, Ponce de Leon's 
house, 121,212. 

Cassareep, a West Indian condi- 
ment, 84. 

Cassava, a native plant, 83. 

Castor bean, the, 88. 

Cattle, statistics of, 259, 261. 

Cavern of the dead, 151. 

Caves and caverns, 129, 137, 144, 
145, 150. 

Cayey, hamlet of, 142. 

Ceiba, hamlet of, 142. 

Cereals, indigenous and exotic, 
83. 

Cervera, fleet of Admiral, 223. 

Church, appropriations for the, 
273, 274; the only Protestant, 
262. 

Ciales, town of, 142; massacres 
at, 230. 

Cidra, hamlet of, 143. 

Cigars, production of, 143. 

Cimarron, animal run wild, 114. 

Cinchona, cultivation of, 87. 

Cinnamon, cultivation of, 80. 

Citrus family, 75, 76. 

Clergy, salaries of the, 273, 274. 

Climate and climatic zones, 24, 
30, 45. 

Clove, cultivation of the, 80. 

Coaling stations in the West In- 
dies, 5. 

Coamo, town and baths of, 143. 

Coca, cultivation of the, 87. 

Cocoa palm and products of the, 
47, 50, 244. 

Cockflghting and pits, 178, 184. 

Coffee, exports of, 61 ; production 



of, in the island, 62, 243, 264 ; 
cultivation of, 63-66. 

Columbus, voyages of, 97 ; tradi- 
tions and accounts of, 130, 137. 

Comeiro, town of, 143. 

Commerce, statistics of, 254, 257. 

Conquistadores, or conquerors, 
198, 208. 

Corozal, the town of, 143. 

Cotton plant, the, 84. 

Crabs, edible and scavenger, 
106. 

Culebra, island of, 22. 

Currency, problems of the, 262. 

Customs tariff" (temporary), 249. 

Day, Judge W. E., 274, 276. 
Disease, causes of, 115. 
Diseases, endemic, 114, 115. 
Distances, table of, 157. 
Dorado, town of, 143. 
Drake, Sir Francis, 212-218. 
Drinks, native, 188. 
Drugs and dyes, 86. 
Dye and cabinet woods, 86. 

Earthquakes, phenomena of the, 

30. 
Eddoe, tropical food plant, 84. 
Education, appropriations for, ^/ 

261, 273. 
Edwards, Bryan, historian, 200. 
English in the West Indies, 212. 
Estimates for 1897-'98, 273. 
Evacuation of Puerto Eico, 232. 
Exports and imports of the island, 

255, 257, 264. 

Fajardo, port and town of, 10, 20, 

137. 
Fibre-plants, 69. 
Filibusteros, or filibusters, 219. 



INDEX. 



279 



Fish of streams and coast, 106. 
Fishing grounds, 107. 
Fodder, common native, 191. 
Folger, Captain, United States 

navy, 230. 
Fruits of the island, 70, 265. 

Game animals, 104 

Ginger, Jamaica, how raised, 81. 

Gold, first taken to Europe, 95; 

where found in Puerto Kico, 

100, 102, 245. 
Gordon, Brigadier-General, Unit- 
ed States army, 230, 232. 
Government and captain-general, 

158. 
Guanica, port of, 10, 19, 224 ; 

landing United States troops at, 

132. 
Guayama, harbor and town of, 20, 

136. 
Guinea fowl run wild, 107. 
Guira, native musical instrument, 

185. 
Gurabo, town of, 144. 

Hanna, Consul, United States, ad- 
vice from, 268. 

Harbours of different coasts, 17-20. 

Hatillo, town of, 144. 

Hato Grande, town of, 144. 

Hawkins, Sir John, 212, 216. 

Henry, General, United ' States 
army, 228, 234. 

Highways of the island, 152-156. 

History of Puerto Kico, 208 et seq. 

Hitchcock, Mr. F. H., on trade, 
254 et seq. 

Hormigueros, town of, 144. 

Housekeeping, tropical, 192. 

Humacao, town and port of, 10, 
137. 



Humming birds, 109. 
Hurricanes, 28, 32-43. 

Iguana, the, 105. 
Immigrants, advice to, 268. 
Imports and exports, 255, 264. 
Indians of Puerto Kico, 198 et seq. 
Indigo, 89. 

Inland towns, 139 et seq. 
Insect pests, etc., 112, 113. 
Isabela, town of, 144. 
Islands adjacent to Puerto Rico, 
21, 23. 

Jalap, where and how grown, 88. 
Juana Diaz, town of, 144. 
Juncos, town of, 144. 

Kitchen, the Spanish, 193. 

Lands, Crown, and other, 241, 

246. 
Lares, town of, 145. 
Las Marias, town of, 145. 
Loiza, hamlet of, 145. 
Lechero, or milkman, 191. 
Limes and lemons, 76. 
Live stock, 259. 
Logwood, 90, 91. 
London Times, letter from the, 

269. 
Luquillo, the sierra of, 7 ; town 

and river of, 145. 

Macias, Captain-General, 230, 231. 
McKinley, President, 223. 
Mahogany, tree and wood, 92, 
Mails for Puerto Kico. See Post- 
al Rates. 
Maize, or Indian corn, 82, 85, 245. 
Maloja, or corn fodder, 191. 
ManatI, town of, 146. 



280 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 



Mango, fruit and tree, 71-73. 

Mangrove, habitat and uses, 46. 

Manioc, or cassava, 85. 

Manufactures, 246. 

Mariacao, town of, 146. 

Mason, Prof. O. T., on Indians, 
204. 

Maunabo, the town of, 146. 

Mayagtiez, port, harbour, and val- 
ley of, 10, 18, 130. 

Meals in the tropics, 193. 

Miles, Major- Gen era!. United 
States army, 10, 132, 224, 227, 
228. 

Mineral and hot springs, 135, 142, 
143, 144, 148. 

Minerals of the island, 95, 245. 

Mines and mining laws, 246. 

Moco, town of, 146. 

Mona, island of, 22. 

Monito, island of, 22. 

Montserrate, shrine of, 131. 

Morovis, town of, 147. 

Morro Castle, San Juan, 117. 

Naguabo, port and town of, 10, 

137. 
Naranjito, town of, 147. 
Navigation rules (1898), 252. 
New Orleans, the United States 

cruiser, 230. 
Nutmeg, history and cultivation 

of, 78, 80. 

Orange, fruit and culture, 75, 244. 

Palma christi, the, 88. 
Palms, native and exotic, 51, 52. 
Panadero, or baker, 192. 
Parrots and pigeons, native, 81. 
Patillas, town of, 147. 
Penuelas, town of, 147. 



Pepper and vanilla, culture of, 
81. 

Perro monte, or wild dog, 114. 

Piedras, town of, 147. 

Pimento, culture of the, 77. 

Pineapple, cultivation of the, 73, 
74. 

Plantain and banana, 53. 

People, condition and character of, 
159,161, 164, 170-176; pastimes 
of the, 177, 184. 

Playa of Ponce, 133. 

Political divisions, 246. 

Ponce, port and town of, 10, 133- 
136. 

Ponce de Leon, first governor, 
116, 125, 209, 211. 

Population, density of, 160, 175. 

Postal commissioners, 231 ; serv- 
ice and regulations, 231, 252 et 
seq, 

Presupuestos (estimates) for 1897- 
'98, 273. 

Priests, salaries of the, 274. 

Products of Puerto Eico, 243 et 
seq., 265. 

Protocol of peace, the, 225, 274- 
276. 

Provision grounds of natives, 94 

Pueblo Viejo, town of Caparra, 
209. 

Puerto Eico, harbours of, 9, 10; lat- 
itude and location, 3-7 ; origin 
of the name, 130; physical fea- 
tures of, 7-9, 12 ; products of, 
243 et seq., 265; an American 
possession, 222. 

Quebradillas, town of, 147. 

Eailroada of the island, 126, 127, 
247 et seq. 



INDEX. 



281 



Eainfall, table showing the, 258. 
Kainy season, the, 25-27. 
Keclus, M. !&lisee, on Puerto Eico, 

11. 
Eefresco, or refreshing drink, 188. 
Eincon, hamlet of, 147. 
Eio Grande, town of, 148. 
Eio Piedras, town of, 148. • 
Elvers of Puerto Eico, 13-17. 
Eoads and highways, 152, 156, 

272. 

Sabana Grande, town of, 148. 

Saint John, island of, 5. 

Saint Thomas, island of, 5. 

Salinas, town of, 136, 148. 

Salt deposits, natural, 141, 149. 

Sampson, Admiral, at San Juan, 
221, 223. 

San German, city of, 149. 

San Juan, city of, 8, 9,121-125; 
harbour and fortifications of, 17, 
117-120; population of, 123; 
bombardment of, 120, 215, 218, 
220. 

San Sebastian, town of, 149. 

Santa Cruz, island of, 5. 

Santa Isabel, town of, 150. 

San Turce, hamlet of, 150. 

Santiago de Cuba, capture of, 220. 

Sarsaparilla, culture of the, 89. 

Schley, Eear-Admiral, United 
States navy, 230, 232. 

Schomburgk, Sir E. H., 34. 

Schools, appropriations for, 161. 

Schwan, General, United States 
army, 228. 

Seasons in Puerto Eico, informa- 
tion on the, 25-34. 

Settlers, advice for, 239-242. 

Shellfish, edible, 106. 

Silk and silkworms, 91. 



Snakes and serpents, 109-111. 

Spaniards in Puerto Eico, 269. 

Spices, soil and climate for, 77. 

Steamers to and from Puerto Eico, 
235. 

Stone, Brigadier-General, United 
States army, 272. 

Strategic base, Puerto Eico as a, 
4,6. 

Sugar, cultivation of, 56, 58 ; 
amount of, exported and im- 
ported, 1, 61, 244. 

Tea culture, possibilities of, 88. 

Telegraph and cable lines, 126, 
262. 

Temperature, tables showing, 43, 
258. 

Territorial divisions, 158. 

Toa Alta, town of, 150. 

Toa Baja, hamlet of, 150. 

Tobacco, cultivation of, 59, 60; 
export statistics, 61, 244. 

Toledo, Don Federico, 219. 

Towns of the interior, 139. 

Trade of Puerto Eico with foreign 
ports, 236, 254, 264 et seq. 

Transportation facilities, 247 et 
seq. 

Trapiche de buey, or ox-mill, 55. 

Trinidad, island of, taken by Eng- 
lish, 220. 

Tropical fruits, 265. 

Trujillo Alto, town of, 150. 

Turmeric, 90. 

Utuado, town of, 150 ; cascade of, 
150. 

Valla de gallos, or cockpit, 178. 
Vanilla and pepper, culture of, 81. 
Vega Alta, town of, 151. 



282 PUERTO RICO AND ITS RESOURCES. 



Vega Baja, town of, 151. 
Vegetables of the tropics, 82. 
Vieques, islands and products of, 

21. 
Vuelta Abajo, soils of the, 59. 

Washerwoman, the West Indian, 

195. 
Wilson, General, United States 

army, 228. 



Winter resort, Puerto Kico as a, 

259, 267. 

Yabucoa, town of, 137. 
Yauco, town and port of, 132, 225. 
Yunque, el (the Anvil), mountain 
of, 7. 

Zabra, ancient Spanish vessel, 
215, 217. 



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n^HE MASTER Y SERIES. Manual for Learning 

-^ Spanish. By Thomas Prendergast, author of " The Mastery 

of Languages," " Handbook of the Mastery Series," etc. Third 

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NEW EDITION, REVISED TO MAY i, 1898. 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

NA VY, from 7775 to i8g8. By Edgar Stanton Maclay, 
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